Is This What I am?
by Whyvettie
Summary: A girl unknowingly holds a power that will change her life completely. What she does not know is the truth of what happened to the others like her.
1. Chapter 1

"RENEE!" a familiarly annoying voice bellowed. I slowly lift my head up from that particularly fascinating dream I was having, to see an angry face with a ruler in her hand.

"Yes?" I answered innocently. My teachers always like me, except this teacher. She is nice and all, but boring. There are no jokes, just a straight face. She has black hair, maybe 5' 5'', thin, and her face is flawless. However, her face was red and her eyes were bulging out at me.

"YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO SLEEP IN MY CLASSROOM YOUNG LADY! THIS IS THE FOURTH TIME THIS WEEK. COME OUT INTO THE HALLWAY, NOW!" Mrs. Wakes ordered me with her voice raised. I sighed, got up and followed her into the beige hallway. She calmed down with her head in her hands. I knew what she was going to say.

"Mrs. Wakes, I am sorry. I should have listened to you in the first place. You can give me a detention, I am sorry." I said with a hint of guilt.

"Are you taking medication for anything? Cold, allergies, headache?" Mrs. Wakes asked me with concern.

"Yeah, for anxiety." I answered quietly, embarrassed.

"What is it and when do you take it?" She wondered.

"I forgot what it was called, but I take it at lunch." I admitted.

"So that is why you fall asleep in your last class. It makes you calm which makes you sleepy, huh?" She patted my shoulder.

"Listen, there is only 5 minutes left of school, why don't you go to your locker and get ready to go home." She whispered.

"Thanks, and I truly am sorry." I gladly accepted though I carry my backpack around school with me. She hugged me and I went back into my small classroom. As I was walking down the row of desks, someone tripped me, and of course, I fell right on my bruised elbow.

"That is what you get!" A big, intimidating girl taunted.

"For what? Being smart?" I laughed. I got up, but immediately was knocked to the ground with a punch in my face. My head hit the ground, and I just laid there half conscious.

"Stop it June!" A low soothing voice ordered.

"Mike?" I answered, dazed. His well built body, short brown hair and brown eyes was standing in front of me, blocking the punches that were thrown by June. Suddenly, two guys were in my vision; one was big (his name is Chuck) and when I say big I mean overweight big. He had shorts, boots and a t-shirt on. The other guy (his name is Chad) was big as in muscular and was wearing the exact same thing. Honestly, they looked silly and didn't intimidate me, but I was wrong. Chad started towards Mike, and Mike did the same. Then they started a fistfight on the other side of the small room.

Pain shot up through my arm and I started to whimper. Where was Mrs. Wakes? Why was nobody doing anything? A large muddied boot was crushing my hand. I managed to twist to my other side and grab hold of his hairy leg to push it off of my hand. Chuck just bent down to me and smiled. Which was more of his large, hairy face being scrunched up and his eyes red. That is when I pushed my hand against his leg and Chuck was blasted into the wall, knocked unconscious and bleeding.

"What the—" I whispered.

"Look what you did to my boyfriend? You freak!" June yelled. Her fat hands took me by the throat and started to squeeze. Everything was slowed down in my mind. I could not breathe and I knew I was going to die.

"What…are….you… doing….to….me?" June croaked. I opened my eyes, and June was holding her throat as she fell to the ground.

"I can't breath. There is no air." She managed to croak once again before she passed out. And at that moment, I realized that everyone in my class had gone somewhere, but I don't know where. I patted my curly blonde hair down and fixed my shirt as I sat up.

"Renee, come on!" Mike exclaimed with my backpack in his hand. I looked up at his face and took my orange backpack and put it on. I stood up and looked around the empty classroom. Chuck, Chad, and June were unconscious. There was a hole in the wall as well. At that moment I knew I was different and that Mike might be different as well.

"Come on!" Mike took my hand and started to run out into the small hallway. Everything was surreal to me. Not only could I not think, but I also could run. I have never been able to run like this ever!

"AH!" I screamed and held on Mike's hand even tighter. We fell straight through the second floor onto the first floor without the second floor breaking. Mike didn't react at all, but I thought I was crazy and started to freak out. Then, again, I noticed that no one is in the hallways. Finally, we reached the front doors. Mike's hand and my hand let go of each other, but the doors were locked.

"Renee, blow the doors open." Mike stopped and stared at me.

"What?" I exclaimed.

"Just do it they are coming." Mike urged, his eyes looked scared, but about what? I shrugged and I casually put my hand in front of me as if I was signaling to someone to stop. I then concentrated and air came out of my hand and blew the doors off of their hinges! I was in shock. What am I? Mike grabbed my hand and led me to his car. We got into the car and he drove. I looked at my hands. They looked normal. I looked at myself in the mirror, I still hand my light skinned face and blue eyes. But what is different?

"Don't worry." He looked at me and smiled.

" What do you mean?" I yelled.

"You are like me." He said with truth sounding through his words.

"Huh?" I sounded.

"You can control air. You can make it, control the air that is already there, and absorb it. That is why June could not breathe. You unknowingly choked her." He explained to me.

"And you can go through solid objects… Does that include people?" I asked.

"Yup." He said bluntly. The rest of the time, we were silent. What am I going to tell my dad? That I am a mutant and that I can choke people by breathing? Desperation was pulsing through my veins. I just accepted it. During the car ride, I took out my small, pocket-sized journal and stared at it.

"Here we are." Mike broke the silence. I looked out the window, and there was my grey, two story house on my street in my secluded neighborhood. Two trees were on the front lawn and my dad was standing in the sea of green grass waiting for me.

"How... How… How do you know where I live?" I whispered. Nothing made sense anymore.

"I will explain when we are inside." He explained. I just nodded.

The living room was still the same. The room was blue and had grey couches, a bookshelf, TV, and a patterned carpet on top of the wooden flooring. My dad was sitting with Mike, and I sat on the couch across from them.

"Sweetie, I am sorry I did not tell you this when you were younger, but you did not show your abilities yet. I thought you were going to run away or do something stupid if I told you. We are mutants, you, Mike and I. I am a shape shifter. What can you do Ren?" My dad explained with the hope of me understanding. My dad was tall, six foot two. He has grey hair and was wearing a suite.

"I can control air... Are there others?" I said in shock of it all.

"Thousands, but in Kentucky there are only ten. I don't know why." He frowned. Everything was silent. It was cold, as it was November and the heater was not on. I looked at Mike and Dad and put on my grey sweater.

"If you are wondering, your dad found me a couple years back in the hospital. It was the day of your mom's death. I was running away from the doctors and I ran straight through your dad. My parents were not at the hospital, so your dad took me back to my room and talked to me. He has been my mentor ever since." He explained.

"Why don't you guys go for a walk? Ren, put your extra clothes in your backpack and take it with you. Now that your school knows what you can do, you have to be careful." My dad suggested. I nodded and headed up the stairs to my small room and packed my backpack. I wondered if that is why Serenity disappeared. Was she a mutant too?


	2. Chapter 2

As I got into my room, I let the image of my room sink in. There was my cello in the corner, next to my bed. My bed is smallish, has flawless white sheets and a black pillow. I don't have any stuffed animals, but I have action figures accompanied by a TV on top of a short shelf. My room is small with deep green walls and I have a window right beside my bed. Of course, I have a desk with a white laptop. Though I only use my laptop for writing and watching movies. (I listen to music on there too) The shock of what happened finally ebbed away and I could feel again. I felt scared. It was all weighing down on me, but I was not angry with my dad. I felt happy though, knowing my dad is a mutant too. But I kept thinking and thinking and the feeling of fear kept growing in me. In an effort to divert myself from thinking, I went to my mirror in my room and looked at myself. I have medium long, curly blonde hair. I have no acne on my face, (well today at least) but my lip was bleeding. My eyes are blue and I am wearing thin blue glasses. I am not skinny, but I am not fat. I am… thin. My jeans are still clean (thank God) and my white shirt is still clean. My grey sweater is old, but still looks good. My shoes of choice: flip flops.

I suddenly remembered why I came here, to pack my backpack. I took out all of my folders, books, and note books out of my orange backpack and put two jeans, two tank tops and two button up blouses. I couldn't forget about underwear, so I packed two, of course. Last, but not least, I put my pocket sized journal and pen into my backpack. My cell phone was in my left pocket, and my ipod in my right pocket.

The stairs were wooden and bare. My feet made noises that I have yet to find a word to describe. I ponder on that for hours sometimes. Weird, huh? Mike was waiting for me at the door. But first, I had to go to my dad who was in the kitchen.

"I am not mad at you daddy. I never was, I just wanted you to know that." I hugged my wonderful father.

"Well I am glad sweetie." He smiled, then signaled for me to go with Mike. I was obedient and followed Mike out the door.

It was partially cloudy outside, and it was chilly outside. Like I said before, my neighborhood is secluded and there is just land between us and the city up north, and miles of land to the south of us. However, there are stores and hospitals close to us. Mike headed towards the south, and I just went to the right of him and I felt safe around him.

"The grass is tall around these parts, eh?" Mike was lightening the mood. He looked at me with his hands in his pockets and I looked at him with my hands holding the straps of my backpack.

"Yup, I never get tired of it. Though it is scary when you play hide and seek at night here… do you mind if we stop for a second so I can see how my 'ability' works?" I asked nervously. Mike chuckled a bit and nodded. We slowed to a stop and I set my backpack to the ground. Mike was squinting and scratched his head. I took my hand and thrust it into the air in and upward motion. The backpack went flying upward into the air at least a hundred feet, then came hurling towards the ground. I panicked and came up with a plan. I made my palm face up right when the backpack was going to hit the ground, but the backpack stopped and hovered over three inches over the street.

"Thank God no cars come here until the morning." I smiled. Mike walked to me and gave me a high five. He had the smell of Axe and mint on him. He took me by the shoulders and put me in front of him.

"Now, this is dangerous, but you gotta trust me." He decided.

"You don't mean…." I moaned. He slowly nodded, his eyes big. I couldn't resist saying yes, "You've gotta be kidding me."

His face was straight, and I could see a storm cloud behind him. My heart started to thud, but not because I was afraid of killing him. Maybe I like him more than a friend? I pushed the thought away and focused. I concentrated and breathed in and I noticed that I could feel air going into my veins. Mike's face was contorted and the color of his skin turned a sickening blue purple color. He crumbled to the ground as he gasped for air. The sick feeling of fear crept into my stomach when he closed his eyes and I automatically stopped and bent down to him, cradling him as he was coughing like he was sick. Quickly I took him and my backpack to the grassy land to the side of us, and continued to hold him. His deep green long sleeve shirt was dusty from his fall as well as his long jeans. Fear had taken hold of me by then, my eyes were watery and I felt as if I could not breath; as if my fear of killing one of the only people that I trusted by accident was replacing the oxygen in my lungs.

"Come on, wake up. Wake up!" I murmured desperately. Sweat slid down my smooth face and I tried to think what I could do to increase the oxygen he was taking in. But how? Five minutes passed and he still was not conscious. I had one idea: since I can make air, maybe I create more air for him to breathe in. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it didn't work.

"Maybe this will work." I thought out loud. Though I have no idea what I am actually doing or let alone how to do this, I am going to do this anyway. I set him down in the long grass and put my hand near his nose, making sure that I was not covering it. I took a deep breath to think this through one last time, then I focused on giving out the air that I had in me. Ten seconds passed, and the air seemed to be getting thicker. Twenty, then thirty seconds passed, and I could not breathe. Five more seconds passed and Mike opened his eyes. My eyes closed and everything went dark.

"Renee." A voice boomed in my ear. The voice sounded familiar, but slow, and I did not understand what the voice was saying at first. Did I die? My question was answered with me having a coughing fit, fighting for air to breathe in. When my eyes opened, I saw a handsome face in front of me, sick with worry, and there were even tears making their way down his face.

"Your… awake." I smiled, but a cough shook through my body. What I did not notice was that Mike was now cradling me and was smiling. His smile was really the smile of an angel to me.

"Course I am. What did you do? I haven't figured that part out yet." He had that questioning look on his face. I stumbled as I tried to stand. The only way that I succeeded in doing so was because of Mike's helping hand. The only thing that I saw was colors because of the blood rushing to my head. I leaned backwards a bit and held my head, but I got over it.

" You were still unconscious after ten minutes, so I tried to create air for you to breathe in, but that did not work. So, of course, I decided to take the air from my lungs, and transfer that into you…. I guess that is how you explain it." I replied.

"That was brilliant. I never thought you would come up with that so soon!" Mike admitted with a chuckle. Surprisingly, he hugged me as if I was a good friend that he has not seen in years. I didn't hesitate to wrap my arms around him to make the feeling mutual. He was warm, and he was lean with a bit of muscles. My heart swelled and a light smile appeared on my face. I felt light and relieved. Sadly, that moment did not last forever. We both pulled away like a sloth from his tree limb and sighed.

"We should continue walking." Mike reminded me.

"Wait... Did anyone see us? I know they were not seeing us before you passed out, but—" I was cut off.

"Strangely enough, no one has been out since school ended." Mike put it. And so we walked with the light breeze blowing against our faces. We talked about what we liked, and just got to know each other.

"Hey, you play an instrument, right?" Mike pondered.

"Yeah, the cello? How did you know?" I questioned him.

"Your fingertips are…How do I put it…. Indented?" He tried putting his words together.

"You are like Sherlock Holmes! I love Sherlock Holmes!." I exclaimed.

"I am just observant." He joked around, putting his head up in the air and exaggerated his words. Then the inevitable question found its way out of his mouth.

"Why did June try to beat you up?" He looked at me.

"Well, it all started a month ago. Her old boyfriend dumped her for me, but I did not like him as a boyfriend, just as a friend. She blamed me for 'stealing' him away from her." I echoed my memories.

"Have you ever had a boyfriend?" Mike dared to ask with his face turning red a bit. I did not judge him at all because I was turning a bit red in the face as well. I sucked in a deep breath and told him the truth.

"Nope. I have been asked out like once, which was a month ago." I breathed. I looked at him, but he was looking at the rocky road.

"Well, what about you? I am sure you have had a couple, I mean you are seventeen." I poked about.

"You're seventeen too and you have never had a boyfriend." Mike pointed out.

"Oh yeah. Good point. Hehe." I realized. I did not know if this was my anxiety talking to me or not, but I felt tension in the air. It was like I offended him or something. Hoping him to talk and not be mad or offended, I held my breath.

"I have had one girl friend about a year or two ago. She was horrible. I think you know her. Her name is Macy. She would threat girls who showed the slightest expression of liking me, even my best friends who are girls. I never knew about it until three months after we started dating. There was no way anyone could tell what was going on if they never heard of it. From then on I have been single. It might take me awhile to get back into asking girls out on small dates again." He slowly blurted out. To be honest, I didn't have that feeling of disappointment at all. It made me feel a bit better, but I do not know why.

"Yeah, I never really liked her. She seems nice until you get to know her." I tried lightening the mood, and it seemed to have worked. More time passed as we went on with our talking, our jokes, and our stories. Then we stopped to look around. Everything was dark all of a sudden. I had the urge to gasp, but it was taken away from me.

"Mike?" I whimpered. I heard him calling for me, but there was nothing but bitter, cold darkness cloaking the sky and ground, even my heart. There was nothing there, nothing there at all, except for the black abyss I was faced with. I panicked, I could not breathe, my eyes widened and I just stood there, numb. My arms and hands started to shake and I felt my blood pumping through my veins slower and slower.

"Stop it! JUST STOP IT!" I screamed on the top of my lungs. I closed my eyes, and re opened them to find Mike was calling my name too. I called back, but he could not hear me. I tried blowing him down with air, but he did not react either.

"Get away! Get away now!" a girl's voice whispered in my ear. Air whirred in my ears as I whipped around both ways. No one was there. That voice. That voice seems familiar. Memories gently floated through my mind and engulfed my vision. Memories of the elementary lunch table, classes, and orchestra. A higher pitched version of the girl's voice echoed through my mind: "Hey! We got the same room for the orchestra trip!" The pieces of the puzzle clicked.

"Ice cream! Ice cream! It is me, Renee. Don't you remember me?" I yelled through the dimming of the horizon. A thud was felt on my left shoulder, but I could not see anyone.

"How do you know those names?" the faceless girl whispered in my frozen ear once again, without leaving a trace.

"Come on! You've gotta be kidding me. I can't look that different from three years ago! Serenity, I am a mutant too… Now…" I stammered. I looked at my watch all of a sudden. Six in the evening! I need to text my dad I will be back a bit later. I snapped my head to Mike's direction; he stepped out of the illusion and stared at me. I looked, only with my tired eyes, to my right: Serenity.

"See?" I showed her.

"No, no, no. You are not her!" She raised her soft voice. Serenity stood there in a stance, just like she did when we were younger when we were horsing around. Her face was roundish and looked… Experienced. Her eyes are a dark, dark brown, and now the mimics the pain and fear of a tortured person. She was wearing all black, her hair was a shiny black color. One moment she was there, and the next my lip was bleeding from a punch in the face and she was back again, but you could not see her doing that. Confused, I turn around endlessly, trying to figure out what should I do. Mike could not do anything either, but was not sharing the same pain; Serenity would just run through him. He really could not do anything to protect me, and I wouldn't let him anyway. I let my surroundings sink in and let my brain work. Finally, I got it.

I put one hand up, then my index finger up and twirled that one finger around and around. At first, a circle of air was forming around me and the grass flew everywhere. After a couple more seconds, the circle became a small twister, forming around me like a cocoon. Air was screaming in my ears making me cover my ears tight. Nothing touched me. I let the tiny twister die down to a wind barrier instead. What I saw in front of me was my best bud; her eyes free of the pain and torture and filled with love and joy.

"Renee! I am so sorry I thought you were one of them, not you." She tried to explain clearly. We ran to each other, tears streaming down out faces. Mike was stunned.

"You can explain it all later. I missed you so much!" I mumbled with my face buried in her shoulder, tears stinging the cut on my lip. Mike came over and decided to join in to make a group hug.

"Awwww. Group hug!" He exclaimed.

"Mike, you goof!" I nudged him, and of course, my elbow went through him. We were all together, and all warm because of this group hug.

"Who is this might I add?" Serenity asked, trying to deduct what he was like.

"Can that hold on for a sec? I need to get home to my dad, he is probably worried sick!" I looked at my watch.

RING RING RING! I pushed the doorbell three times, my usual thing to do. No one answered. I glanced at Mike, and then to Serenity. Sighing, I get my house key on my Sherlock Holmes keychain, out of my pocket. There were some clicking noises, soon followed by the creaking of my white door opening.

"Come, make yourselves feel at –" I stopped dead.

"DADDY!" I screamed.


	3. Chapter 3

"Dad? Hello?" I raised my voice. Still no answer. My house was turned upside down. Books, DVDs, CD's; they were spread all around the house. Stuffing seemed to have flown everywhere, sprinkling the couches. Contorted furniture told the tale. My chest was not moving, as I held my breath when the thought of what the kitchen looked like jumped up an down in my mind. I proceeded walking towards the kitchen, ever so careful. Blue, white and cream dishes of all sizes were shattered on the creamy brown colored ground. Something glistening caught my eye: blood. There were small pools of blood. Trails of red blood flowed to the counter where the knives used to be. I crouched down, squinting my eyes. Green…blood?

"Renny, what happened?" Serenity gingerly tiptoed around the mess.

"Shh!" Mike hushed me as my mouth opened to answer her. He jumped, and disappeared into the basement. My friend and I just waited there, but the hair on my arms started to stand up. But why? I was in no immediate danger, my dad was.

"Mmm!" I shrieked. My stuffed backpack brushed against something, or someone. A small, icy blade was to my throat, freezing my slender neck. Laughter bellowed in my ears, so high pitched I could not hear anything else. Words would not come out of my mouth.

"I know who you are." He breathed in my ear. His hot breath stunk, suffocating me.

"If you know who I am, why don't address me by my name? Huh?" I uttered innocently, fully knowing what he meant. I trembled and squirmed in the lethal grip of this…. This thing.

"Renee, do you ever want to see your daddy again? Huh? Sweetie?" His awful voice cracked in my ears, but in the distance, I heard Mike fighting with another person.

"Ye…Yes." I stammered.

"Then become one of ussss." He hissed.

"But I am not one of you." I lied.

"Yes you are." He insisted, pressing the blade ever so harder against my throat. His green fingers felt my face.

"No I am not." I feebly whispered. The green man threw me to the ground, and disappeared, only to be found choking Serenity. Her face turned bright red, and dismayed to the fact her abilities were not working.

"Do..Don't.. Do it." She struggled. The man's face was that of a man, but of a cruel man. Rough and grotesque was his body itself, Serenity tried to pry his arms off of her small neck.

"Oh come on! You have GOT to be kidding me!" I groaned, anger rising in my body. I placed my hands in front of me and pushed my bruised body up.

"You thought I forgot about you too?" He growled. All I saw was a shiny object slice the porcelain skin of Serenity's cheek.

"Ow!" She howled. Tears flowed down her bloodied face. Blood dripped down her face. The height of my anger reached its max, and time seemed to have slowed down. A drop of blood fell to the floor and I heard it slam the wooden floor. That is when Mike came back from the basement, running with blood streaming down his arm. His left sleeve was ripped. I heard nothing, felt nothing, and noticed everything.

"That is enough!" I shouted. Mike, the grotesque man and Serenity were blown to the walls. I stomped over to the green man, not needing to worry about stepping on objects because they were blown across the room as well.

"You think you can do this to my family? Huh? Do you? Do you?" I challenged. The monster was not moving, so I got into his face, but jumped back from the horrid stench, pinching my nose. COUGH COUGH, I fought for cleaner air. Hesitantly, I inched my way to the twisted mess of limbs. With disgust, I try to feel his pulse. No pulse, not even a little beat. The truth crawled up my spine, paralyzing me. I didn't absorb any air, and I certainly did not jam them hard enough to break anything. What did I do?

"Mike? Serenity? Wake up now please." I urged them. No one stirred. I could hear the blood rushing in my ears, drowning out every sound. My eyes spotted the two unconscious together. I sped up my walking pace towards them to a run. What seemed like ten minutes to get to was really ten seconds. I took my hand and violently shook my two friends.

"Come on come on. Get you up you guys. Come on." I complained with the knowledge that we are not safe here anymore,

"What? I can't see you." They coughed in unison.

"No you guys are blind! What did I do?" I said with shame.

"No, no. It is just so dark that I can't see you." Serenity explained, trying to balance her self against the blue walls as Mike sat there for a couple of seconds to get his head on straight before he stood up. Finally, I looked around: it was dark. I turned my head to my watch: 7:17 pm. How did I not realize it was this dark? I snapped up straight and pushed the thought aside.

"Mike, what happened down there?" Serenity turned on the light. She winced, and Mike and I shielded our eyes.

"Another one of those… Things were down there." He accounted, examining his blood soaked arm.

"We've gotta get out of here you guys." I stated the obvious. I ran my fingers down my long hair while I thought.

"My place, we can go to my place." Serenity blankly stared. There was no point in arguing or asking, we would hear about that later.

7:29 was what my watch read. What lay before me was a very tall autumn colored hill. A full moon was lit in the sky befriended with small white specks of stars. The temperature must have been twenty degrees out, which was odd for this week. I had to move my fingers around to make sure that they would not become numb. Poor Mike, he was the only one without a sweater so I shared my sweater with him. I slid my hand out of one of the sleeves, and let him walk right next to me as he put his arm through one of those sleeves. Murkiness overflowed in this area, in a woody part of the lands that stretches out. My eyes were getting lower and lower even though it was only 7:30. None of us spoke during the twelve-minute walk here. We didn't even mutter. I know I did that because I needed to have some time to myself for once. I think Serenity and Mike were not speaking was because they had a headache from the blow they received unintentionally from me.

"Kay, so here is my humble abode." Serenity beckoned with her hands.

"Mmmmmm where is it?" Mike sniffed. He must have gotten banged up pretty bad. Serenity smirked a bit, ripped off some shrubs, and opened a camouflaged door and flicked on the lights. Mike and I stumbled into the two-story bunker. There was wood flooring, (Serenity never liked carpets) white walls, and a kitchen that looked more like a bar. Two lamps were at opposite sides of the room, a red, leather couch and a big, comfy, red seat were sat in front of the TV. A coffee table was place strategically in the middle of the living room, completing the furnishings. Oh! There was a fireplace to the right wall of the TV as well.

"I think we need a nice meal. I'll cook, you guys." I offered, hoping this will start to make up for what I had done to them.

"Oh no! Your cooking." Serenity smiled and teased.

"Ha ha." I sarcastically replied. I helped Mike limp to the couch, and laid him down there to let him rest.

"Can you do me a favor?" I whipped around to Serenity.

"Nope." She laughed

"I'll be your bestest friend." I coaxed out a yes.

"But you already are…. So I guess so." She smiled her wonderful smile.

"You know all about taking care of wounds and stuff, right? Can you take care of Mike while I cook?" I wondered. She nodded her head, and I went right to the kitchen.

The kitchen had an air of perfection; the sky blue tiles, fridge, counter, stove, oven, pantry, kitchen table with five chairs at the end, cabinets, and, finally, a microwave. Heaven for a cook, such as myself. I decided to make two meals: pasta with meatballs and eggs, bacon, ham, and buttered toast. My choice was dictated by the fact that I don't know if Mike is allergic to anything.

After I finished my steaming buffet, I returned to the two of the people that are my world at the moment. Serenity was bent down, tending to Mike. I was towering over them, observing the patient. Serenity did take his shirt off to see to his brutal wounds. His stomach was purple with bruising and scarlet blood was crusted on his arm. Scratches were all over his arms and parts of his chest that moved up and down, shaking in pain. Serenity was rubbing the wet, bloody rag, trying to clean the blood off of him. There were two wet rags and the other one was clean. I used that one to wash her wounded face. Ointment was in her pocket, as I sometimes had a keen eye for detail. I stole it and rubbed that on their scratches. He started to chuckle and grabbed my hand. I smiled because he was awake. Serenity giggled.

"Where is the food?" He rasped. He still held my hand like I was he wouldn't let me go until I surrendered his food.

"In the kitchen. You will have to get up and get it." I admitted with friendly sarcasm. He attempted to sit up, wincing at the soreness he was presented with. Serenity and I helped him up and we all "limped" to follow the aroma of food. The chandelier above the table was switched on, and stayed on while we were eating.

"This food…. It…. Its delicious!" Mike teased. I was up and about to get my backpack. I found it on the counter, and magically pulled out a men's t-shirt, jeans and jacket.

'Hahaha, I am serious though, it is very good." He admitted. His eyes caught the clean clothing.

"Right before we left from my house, I took these. Why? You may be thinking. Because your shirt was torn to pieces the last time I saw it." I explained with an English accent.

"Thanks. Where is the bathroom?" Mike poked Serenity.

"Upstairs, down the hall to the left." She directed him. I sat down to enjoy the Italian smell of pasta with my mouth watering.

"I have to be honest with you, Renee. Are you guys dating or something? You guys act as if you have known each other for a while." She looked at me with the need for details.

"Nope. There was an incident at school today where I used my ability and pretty much choked someone without knowing I did. That is how we ended up here. Which I am thankful for because I get to see you again." I chewed. She took her cup of ice tea and looked up the stairs. Mike was coming down, looking like he was never beaten up.

"So what is your story?" Mike summoned. He sat down at the "family" table and ate some more of his pasta and took some of the bacon and eggs. His face was clean and serious, for once in the past hour, despite his injuries. Serenity looked at me and gulped down what she was chewing. Her face was light and roundish, but right now, her face showed somewhat of embarrassment. She sighed, and opened her mouth.

"Four years ago was when my ability to be super fast and to be able to manipulate darkness mentally and reality wise appeared. My teacher, our teacher, made me stay after school that day. She took out a gun and pointed it to my head. Her door was locked, and if I had screamed, she would have killed me on the spot. So I ran, knowing she wouldn't see me at all. Somehow, I got outta there and told my parents. My parents understood and believed me. I know what you are wondering: How could they have believed a thirteen-year-old girl? Well they knew about me being a mutant. And no, they are not mutants. Ya see, they don't care if you are a mutant or not. Renee, I know your dad is a mutant; he helped my parents understand what was happening. Your dad built this place before we were born." Serenity looked at us.

"There was no way my parents could stay with me nor could I live in a normal house. If my parents lived with me, then THEY would know were I would be at all times. Being alone and secluded was the only thing that would be safe for me. I am sorry Renee." Serenity's tears fell from her face. I, luckily, sat right next to her and put my hand on her soft shoulder. She broke out and hugged me.

"Renee, we need to tell you something." Mike swallowed. We stopped hugging, and I looked attentive.

"There is a –" Mike stopped. Something was letting out a tune. A familiar tune.

"Crap! Hold on a sec you guys." I rolled my eyes. I flipped open my cell phone and answered it.

"Hello? Oh hello. Not today. Because I am busy, it is almost nine anyway. Yes I know that. That was one time because we had a project due. There was a rat and my dad is allergic to rats so we turned the place upside down. Wait, were you looking in my window? Listen, I can't stay on the phone either. My dad is on the phone and my minutes are running low. Good night!" I hung up the phone. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Who was that?" Serenity sniffed.

"Remember Tracy?" I asked, irritated. She nodded,

"She is worse, a lot worse now. She never shuts up! She always complains and is so freaking hypocritical and just annoying." I ranted.

"Well, as I was saying, there is this group of people who are controlling mutants so they can take over the world. You only hear that in movies, right? Too bad it is not limited to movies. Any who, your dad created a safe haven for us mutants." Mike eerily put it. This didn't come as a surprise to me at all. Which obviously gives me the answer to where is my beloved father.

"This stuff is depressing. Why don't we get to know each other and catch up?" I proposed, my voice wavering. Serenity jumped and grinned at the idea.

"You first Renee." Mike commanded.

"Yeah!" Serenity came in.

"Fine. So, this is actually depressing news, but my mom died a year after you 'disappeared'." I started out with. Irene's grin soon turned upside down into a frown.

"How?" She asked, horrified.

"No foul play, thank God. Um, it was an allergic reaction to this medication. It was my medication for a cold that I was taking, and she misread the label and took it for her headache. Unfortunately, she was allergic to it." I laughed, coarsely.

"Wait a sec. Mike, aren't your parents worried about you?" I turned to Mike. Mike fixed his brown hair, then walked to the kitchen sink and washed his dishes.

"My parents are out of town with my little brother." He put it.

"Where did your parents and little brother go?" Serenity asked, as she followed Mike and washed her dishes. Soon after I did the same thing.

"This competition thing for math. I didn't want to go because if I miss school for over a week, I am going to be crushed with make up work. Any who, back to Renee. Do you have any nick names?" He took my plate to dry.

"Uh. Ren is what my dad calls me. Renny is what Serenity calls me. I call her ice cream. It is a long story. So, the last concert is in May. I got into the really good orchestra at our school, just like you wanted me to do Serenity. Nothing else has really changed though. Now to describe myself for our new friend, Mike. I have a good sense of humor, and I love music. Rock, pop, classical, etc. Just not rap. I hate rap. My favorite band of all time is the Gorillaz. Second would have to be Coldplay. The reason why I love music is not that it helps 'escape' from anything. It just…. How do I put it? Feels right. I really want to be a historian. The one who shows the facts, and relates them to the present times. Favorite animal are cats. I do love to watch movies as well. I watch TV time to time. I am really close to my daddy. AKA 'Benevolent' Dictator. And if you are wondering I am Catholic. And I think that is it." I finished.

"What do you look for in a guy?" Serenity asked.

"Yes, what do you look for in a guy?" Mike asked mischievously. I couldn't help but burst out laughing. Mike and Serenity joined me. When we finished, my face was tingly and numb.

"Well. I look for a guy with a well-built body. What catches my eye is the hair, but the eyes are what really steal me away. I love a guy with a good sense of humor, and that understands serious sarcasm, and playful sarcasm. What do you look for in a girl?" I explained.

"Hmmm. Well I don't want a girl that is toothpick skinny, but not fat. I prefer for her to be shorter than me. The eyes are big deal for me. And I love a girl who isn't over dramatic and has common sense." He looked at us.

"Kay so, nothing much has changed with me either. I am more suspicious though." Serenity blankly said.

"I guess it is hard to say what is different after four years. Huh? Why don't you tell Mike about yourself?" I insisted.

"Well I am not outgoing, nor am I in anyway a girly girl. I am in love with video games. My favorite color is black, and I love sleeping. Hum. I play the violin and I love eating cake. Cooking is one of my favorite things to do. I am not really into music though." Serenity voice wavered. Her brown eyes flashed at me, telling me that she does not want to tell Mike anymore. I blinked as response.

"Cool. Time for me I guess. Alrighty then, I love music, but not as much as Renee. Coldplay is my favorite band of all time, and my second favorite band is Gorillaz. My favorite song is 5/4. My absolute favorite thing to do is read. It clears my head and makes me chill. I want to be in the software business someday. My favorite animals are birds, and my favorite color is red. I am really close to my little brother. I don't watch TV cause I just don't. I am very sarcastic, so please do not be offended if I said something sarcastic. I am apologizing in advance. You can call me Mickey, my parents call me that all the time. I am Catholic as well. Renee and I actually go to the same church every week." Mike looked at me.

"Oh yeah. You do don't you? …. You guys don't talk about yourselves a lot do you?" I joked.

"You get to know me more by spending time with me." Mike grinned.

"We should get going to bed. It is about ten and we have a big job ahead of us." Serenity thought out loud.

Serenity, Mike and I slept in the same room upstairs out of fear of something terrible. Serenity's bedroom had two patterned beds. Mike slept in the black striped bed, and I shared the black polka dotted bed with my best friend. We put pillows between us for a wall. The pajama I was wearing was white: a top and a bottom. Her room was painted a somewhat deep purple and had gaming posters everywhere. Lamps were positioned on the side tables next to our beds. A writing desk was next to the door, where a blue trash can stays. I said my Our Father and put in my ipod and chose Revolving Doors (by the Gorillaz) to help me drift asleep. My body felt heavy, and a movie seemed to have been playing in my head. The sounds were amazingly realistic. When the song changed to The Snake in Dallas, I snapped out of the trance of being half asleep. My mind was so tired. I would think about turning off my ipod , and end up dreaming that I did. I decided that I will turn it off, and my arm and hand did so. I didn't bother to take off my glasses as my mind kept getting foggier and foggier.

I woke up to see nothing but darkness around me.

"That was just a dream." I sighed with relief. All the awful, and happy events were not real, just in my head. Wait a second. That makes no sense at all. My face ached over all and if it were a dream, then I would have a window right beside my bed. I got up, out of my side of the bed, and tip toed to see the alarm clock. 2:43 AM.

"That's just great. Juuuuuust great." I rubbed my face. I was craving some iced tea, so I got to the stairway and tried to walk down stairs. Tried. I tripped and tumbled down the stairs creating enormously loud creaking sounds. I stopped myself from breaking my neck by putting my mind to it and propelling the air to allow me to hover before I hit the bottom of the stairway.

"Ow. That hurt." I talked to myself. I got myself up and steadied myself. I didn't pick up my feet when I sluggishly walked to get my tall glass of iced tea. There were marble countertops, and stools, just like a bar. Just like my dad to put marble countertops. I took a stool and sat on it. After a couple sips of tea, I set my head down on my arms.

"Do you want to see your precious father again?" A sly woman asked me.

"Yes." I whispered.

"Then tell me where they are."

"No. I don't know." I fibbed just a bit. I squirmed with pain as the woman grew a tree root out of her hand and forced it in my arm.

"Stop. Please stop! I really don't know. I am not a mutant." I pleaded. My breaths grew shallower every time I breathed in the pain.

"Not budging, eh? Maybe seeing your father will change your stupid, little mind." The cruel woman gestured. The sound of chains echoed in the cell. My poor dad was in his suit and tied to a table, his face hollow, his body beaten.

"She is not a mutant, let her go." He tried.

"Silence! You traitor." She growled. Another root pierced my skin. I was weak, every breath shook me, and I felt like I hadn't slept for days. Fear didn't compute anywhere in me anymore. There was only one final solution: to focus on the people torturing my father and the rest of the mix of humans and mutants. I lowered my head as a sign of defeat. My body started to get perkier and I felt, literally, more alive. Every bad mutant was dead or unconscious. I was out of the tree woman's grip and ran to my father.

"Dad! I've been worried sick! Dad?" I touched my father. He wasn't moving, not even a twitch. Shock ran through my body and stopped my heart. My entire body froze stiff. The blood running through my veins weren't running anymore, it felt slow and thick like slush. Breathing became increasingly difficult and shallow A hole was on both sides of his poor head. The wall next to him was spattered with red, glistening blood with a tree root jammed in the wall. My father's face was grey and hollow, but looked at peace. I couldn't stand to look; my father, the last family I had left, is dead. I used my hand as a barrier to my eyes and turned away from the metal torture block. Drips of water could be heard, and humidity was thick.

"Stop it. Please." A voice suffered. I removed my dirty hand and observed.

"Serenity. Stop it! What are you doing?" I reasoned.

"What are you talking about? I don't know you." She hissed.

"Let Mike go. You know us. You and I are best friends." I retorted. Mike stopped thrashing around, dead, and Serenity was gone


	4. Chapter 4

"Renee." A deep soothing voice called me. My eyes flew open and I leaped out of the wooden stool. A familiar hand caught me while I tripped. Mike! I hugged him for what seemed like eternity. I was able to breath a sigh of relief again, knowing that this time it really was a dream. The cold air wrapped us tighter and all that was audible to me was our synchronized breathing.

"Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh." I breathed. My heartbeat slowed down to its norm.

"What did you do last night?" Mike whispered, rubbing my back. I gazed at his face.

"Nothing… Much." I joked around. Mike released me from his welcomed grip.

"A nightmare." Mike pinpointed. I wrinkled my eyebrows as a reply.

"What was it about?" Mike poked me.

"I don't really want to talk about it." I answered him honestly. Serenity! The thought prodded my mind.

"I am going to be right back." I said, looking back as I was running up stairs.

"Ok?" Mike was barley audible. I found my feet trailing the pathway to Serenity. I blew open the purple door. Serenity was nowhere to be found in her deep purple room. The beds where messed up and empty.

"Serenity. Serenity!" I hollered.

"What?" She moped. I looked around. No one was there.

"Over here." She moaned. I pushed the covers on the top of the bed, and I glanced underneath the bed. Black hair was visible, and then a face showed up.

"Really? I thought you stopped doing that the last time I saw you." I chuckled just a bit.

"And I thought you stopped having constant nightmares." She retorted playfully.

"You have a point there old chap." I held out my hand.

"Can I sleep for five more minutes?" She pleaded.

"Nope, it is only eight in the morning and you said we have a big job a head of us." I reminded her. Her face was grim and she threw the pillow at my face. I reflected the pillow and laughed.

"Go to your boyfriend, and eat breakfast with him already." She smiled.

"Oh shut up, he is not my boyfriend!" I tried to convince her.

"Oh whatever. I know you. You like him." She appeared right in front of me. I bounded backwards.

"Stop doing that!" I giggled. This time I was determined not to trip down the stairs and fall flat on my face. The aroma of cereal floated around me. Mike was crunching on cereal from afar. I slipped into the chair next to him.

"Want some?" He mumbled. I waved my hand.

"No, my stomach is unsettled."

"The dream, huh? Hey, why did Serenity sleep like that last night?"

"Sleepwalking. Now a day, she usually does not sleepwalk. Years ago she did that once a week. No one knows why though." I answered. Mike looked at me and tucked a piece of hair that was in my face behind my ear. For minutes we gazed at each other until a certain SOMEONE came down.

"I knew it! You guys are dating." Serenity rushed down.

"No we are not." Mike tried opposing her.

"Hurry up and get dressed Renee. We have to teach you some very important things." She demanded.

"Fine 'mother'." I sighed. I ran upstairs to the hallway where I left my backpack. The seat where my backpack was sitting was gone. Did I sleep walk? Or did I just forget I moved it to someplace else?

"It is over here Renee." Mike called. I sprinted down stairs and smiled that "opps" smile. I grabbed my backpack from Mike's hand and sprinted back upstairs into the blue bathroom. A smell of coconut overflowed in the bathroom, but there was no air freshener in sight. Maybe the perfume from Serenity or the shampoo she uses. It was a medium sized with walls that had clumps of a deep blue paint that is in a pattern. The look was actually very interesting and artsy. The bathtub is also a shower, how convenient. Locking the door, I open my backpack and choose a pair of jeans, a yellow shirt with a yellow over shirt. I took off my white pajama top and the goose bumps on my arms rose up.

"Goodness, it is cold." I shivered. I quickly slipped on my choice of clothing. Yawning, I fix the plaid, yellow collar and looked in the mirror. I was still the same as yesterday, nothing was different, even my hair wasn't messed up from sleeping. However, my bumps and bruises are lighter and less noticeable.

"Hmmm. What am I going to do now? I don't know how to do this stuff. I don't know the full story either." I sighed to myself. The same thought prodded me again and again. Mike. Do I honestly, truly like him? Do I just want to be a good friend of his, someone to hold you up when there is something wrong and visa versa? Or did I admire him? So many questions bustled in my head. Three knocks sounded on the door.

"Hey you done in there?" Serenity asked.

"Yeah, I have to use the bathroom very badly." Mike urged.

"I was only in here for like three minutes you guys." I replied.

"How do you know, do you time yourself?" Serenity joked around.

"Yeah. I do." I opened the door and showed her my watch.

"That is just like you." She rolled her eyes, smiling.

"Yeah yeah, just use the freaky deaky bathroom." I rolled my eyes back.

About ten minutes later, we were outside. A wave of irritation swept over my body. Nothing like this has ever happened to me. A tingly sensation was felt in my arms that made me felt like I needed to punch something. I didn't know this until I paid attention, but I was grinding my teeth very hard. Every thought that was streaming through my head was really just me yelling inside my head of something that someone did to me months and years ago. I had to break something, or do something about it. I must have looked fine, but I was experiencing heck inside me. My thoughts were horrible and violent, and I was feeling sick to my stomach from the anger inside me. Knowing it would be irrational of me to take it out on my two friends, and ignored it. Mike wasn't bothering me and neither was Serenity, they shouldn't receive harsh blows from me because I was irrational.

The sky was completely grey, and it was chilly. The grass was not quite an autumn colored yet, whereas the trees were bare. There were nine lit candles on the ground, and some boxes were on the ground as well. Mike was in the corner of the imaginary square with his arms crossed. I felt very stupid though. I mean, though I am seventeen and Mike is seventeen, I still felt like I didn't know anything. (Serenity is younger than me by a month.)

"Ok. How is this going to work? Won't someone see us Serenity?" I wondered.

"I set a mental barrier around us. Anyone who gets in sight of here won't be able to see us, they are just going to see a dark forest in front of us." She explained proudly.

"Ok, so what do you want me to do boss?" I asked. Mike pointed to the candles.

"We are going to teach you to how to use your ability without using your hands so when you can't use your hands you can still use your ability. Also, you need to learn to focus your ability on one spot so you don't effect everyone around you, only the people you want to effect." He explained.

"I want you to take away the air from the first and seventh candle, so they go out." Serenity instructed me. This shouldn't be that hard. A few seconds later I learned that I was wrong: I blew out all of the candles.

"That is ok, just try again." Serenity re lighted the candles. This time I looked at the candles and just thought about putting it out. And again, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be: I made the flames grow bigger by giving them too much air. I shrugged and tried once again. You know what they say: third times the charm.

"Yay you did it!" Serenity congratulated me.

"Now do it to the third and fifth ones." Mike ruined the mood of happiness. The irritation I put to the side was bobbing to the surface of my mind again. What is up with me today? I succeed in blowing out the right candles again!

"Very good! Now we want you to be able to control these boxes by your air manipulation." Serenity pointed. The encouragement cooled down my anger quite a bit, and I felt sane again. The cogs in the back of my brain started working again, and out-of-the-box ideas of what I could do with air were being mass produced my head. I could produce a small twister, right? Maybe I can produce a bigger twister. I used all of my strength to think of a way to accomplish this. The wind speed started to pick up and grass, boxes, and candles spun around at first. The something occurred to me: what about Mike and Serenity? I put my brain to the test again and found out that I could divide my attention to my surroundings and do different things with my ability at the same time. So what I ended up doing was that I made the air push them up and down at the same time to keep them at place as the twister was created. I knew my two friends were yelling at me, but the sound of the twister sounded like three trucks on a highway passing me by, drowning out any other sound. The now fully formed twister obscured my vision, so in turn I didn't know how things were holding up with Serenity and Mike. The moment was slowing down, and I fell to one knee. The wind was whipping through my hair and hurt my face. Energy was being drained out of my body and I collapsed. The altered environment fell silent. I could hear the crunching of dead grass to my side. That was the only sound that could be heard,

"You guys." I opened my eyes, and rolled over just to crumble again. I pushed up my glasses and struggled to get onto my knees. All of a sudden, I was able to get up, but still stumbled to the side a bit.

"That," Mike started off.

"Was," Serenity followed.

"Just."

"WOW." They finished together.

"Thanks. Is the mental thingy still up?" I breathed heavily.

"You bet. How did you do that?" Serenity questioned me.

"I was thinking about interesting ways to use my ability. What I didn't know what that I could split my attention and use my ability in two different ways at the same time. Did you guys get picked up by my twister?" I yawned.

"No, it was like we had a barrier." Mike exclaimed.

"That is my Renee." Serenity smiled.

"Aw… My little girl, she is growing up so fast!" Mike walked and stood beside me.

"Wow." I sighed.

"What?" Mike grinned.

"Just….. Just…. Aren't you my same age?" I yawned yet again.

"Nope, I am nineteen." Mike put it bluntly

"But how? Didn't you say your were seventeen?" I asked, bewildered.

"You assumed I was. Remember, I never actually said I was seventeen. And I wasn't held back in school either, if you are wondering." He pointed out.

"Ok, enough with the chitter chatter. What else do you got?" Serenity poked me. I signaled them to get farther away from me, just in case. What really intrigued me was thought of being able to push myself in the air for a certain amount of time. That would be fun. Taking a deep breath, I analyzed how to do this thing. Iron Man! The way he tried to fly at first in the first movie! Maybe I could try that. I stood up straight and put my hands to the side, and faced my palms down. Slowly, but surely, I was lifting myself up in the air, so I decided to increase the airflow that was coming out of my hands. I looked down, and everything was getting smaller and smaller, until I was at least one hundred feet in the air. I could barely hear Mike calling out to me. It was amazing up here. Peace and quiet, the air quietly blowing through my hair. As the dare devil I am, I completely let go. The air automatically was hitting my face as I was hurling towards the ground. Don't get me wrong, I knew what I was doing, but I screamed out of the excitement anyway. The hard ground was growing clearer and clearer every second. Finally, I stopped and hovered at least three inches over the ground. I breathed out heavily, laughing my heart out and let go.

"That was fun!" I stood up.

"Don't ever do that ever again!" Mike scolded me.

"Come one." I whined.

"Just practice." Mike grinned.


	5. Chapter 5

"Why don't you practice?" I mocked. Mike started to open his mouth, but my ears caught something. Was it an animal, the wind? Then it clicked. I put my index finger over my mouth to shush him. I quietly walked to him and whispered into his ear.

"Where is Serenity?" I whispered. Mike shrugged and turned his head around. She was nowhere to be seen or heard from, which means that the barrier must have been down. I have been told before that there is always a calm before the storm, a violent, terrible storm. In this case, it was correct in many ways. Nothing stirred, nothing moved, the wind died down to nothing, and all we could hear were our deep breaths. Chaos started as soon as Mike and I realized what was happening.

"Holy crap. CRAP this hurts. You have gotta be freaking kidding me!" I held my leg in pain.

"What happened?" Mike took my hands off of my thigh.

"This hurts." I surprisingly laughed. How can I laugh when I was in so much pain? Another shot was heard, but this time Mike was the unfortunate victim. A bullet wound was found on his arm, now both of us were extremely vulnerable. Mike held his arm with a sickening expression on his face.

"Who is there?" I sobbed. The pain was overwhelming, and I was pretty sure that the bullet was lodged right next to my bone, scraping against it. Small, but potentially lethal ice sickles were being shot at us. We turned around about five times, not knowing where the culprits were. Then the inevitable happened. Blue and sharp, an ice sickle was stuck in my stomach. I instantly clenched my belly and fell to the ground. Bleed spurted out of both of my wounds and covered my clothing. The immense amount of pain I was experiencing was intolerable and I squirmed on the hard, frozen grass. Mike leaped towards my side and held me. Soft white spurts of air were seen coming out of our mouths. It isn't that cold outside, only about maybe fifty-four degrees, not colder than that. Mike looked at me and started stroking my hair while he took the ice out of my abdomen and chucked it into the unknown.

"Come on, come on, stay with me." He kissed my head. I used most of the weak energy in me to just glance at him. So much blood had left me in so little time.

"Stay alive for your father. You are the only family he has left." Mike encouraged me. Words were stuck in my throat and the tears stuck in my eyes. My breathing had become labored and I was drifting between conscious and unconsciousness.

"Mike. Don't. Let. Them." I stopped. I couldn't do it; I couldn't talk anymore, let alone breathe.

"You are strong Renee. Don't die on me please." He pleaded. Sorrow picked at my heart, I knew that I would not survive this, this time. Mike's face was soaked in tears, and mouthed, "don't leave". His eyes were overloaded with sadness and anger. I took my last breath and closed my eyes. Everything in my body felt distant…

"Who are you? Get away from her!" I could faintly hear Mike order. What I did not understand was my heart started pumping and air filled my empty lungs. At that point, I sucked in air and coughed so hard, my stomach hurt. I had the urge to ask if I was dead or not, but if I was dead, than I would not hear Mike defending me, Unless I was in the movie Ghost, but that would be another story. Finally, I opened my eyes and saw a man, who was not alive for long. He fell on top of me and I screamed.

"Mike!" I croaked. Mike stared at me in disbelief. Memories of what happened in who knows how long started hitting me hard. I flung the mystery of a man off of me, and shot right up. Nothing really struck me except for the fact that I was alive, and everything was frosted.

"Renee!" Mike hugged me.

"Mike… What just happened? Did that guy who saved me pretend to be with the people who were trying to kill us, so he could save us, and then he got shot?" I questioned him. Mike took me aside and asked me how I knew that.

"Because there is a bullet hole in him, and if you listen carefully, you can hear a guy and a girl bickering about this guy." I fell silent.

"Watch out!" Mike held me. Two giant sheets of ice went through us, and then my gaze shifted to what was in front of me. My mouth dropped and the thought of "I knew it!" kept repeating itself in my head. A short, ugly, black haired, brown-eyed girl was smirking in a stance right before my eyes. Her face was probably as smooth as anybody's face can be. Evil overshadowed her round head and petite body. All I could do was laugh, and I wanted to tell everyone that I had complained to in the past two years or so that I was right.

"Son of a gun! I knew you evil when I first became friends with you." I smirked. Mike spun around to face with a very large man that was not a mutant, and was holding two pistols in his hand.

"Nice to see your perfect face. I'll be happy when you are dead. I could never stand your logic and common sense." Tracy retorted.

"This is between her and me, you go take care of the other guy." I whispered into Mike's ear. Two shards of ice appeared in Tracy's hands and I stood there, waiting for her to strike. She did nothing, but I think she could sense me about to sneeze. That didn't happen, but that feeling of having to sneeze burned my nose and disoriented me, and that is when the fight had begun. Thick shards of ice were coming at me, and I bent backwards and had to push myself back up with air. And as I pushed myself up, I grabbed a rock, and propelled forwards, using air to make it more forceful. A clinking sound was made as it hit the frozen shield, protecting Tracy. We came closer and fought each other. Using my arms as a shield, I worried about getting hit by her: for now her fists are ice. A punch here and a kick there and I was thrown to the hard ground. Tracy stomped over to me, and I thrust myself up to confront her. I blocked her kicks and then kicked her in the stomach. She went flying in the air and made a thump noise when she hit the tree of ice.

"Mike, how are you doing with this guy?" I tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and we were both shocked by out battered appearances.

"Watch out!" We both grabbed each other's hands while I put up I wind barrier against the muscular man, and Mike made the piece of ice (that could potentially decapitate us) go through us without harm. I nodded to him and he nodded back. We casually went back to our chore of a fight. The evil little girl tried moving, but she couldn't because of me. Her two minuscule hands wrapped around her pathetic little throat, gasping for air. The feeling of finally revealing the true nature of the cruel, cruel person overpowered me. A smile crept onto my face, but I was determined to keep a straight face: I knew it would be wrong to smile at anyone's suffering. And then it happened; she was defeated once and for all. My chest heaved up and down with my heavy breathing and I returned to Mike. He was nowhere to be found, but the humongous man was staggering, side-to-side, trying to come back to reality. I hovered over the man and stared at him for who knows how long. All of a sudden, a blur of color flashed before my eyes, and the man was gone! Mike popped up from the now normal autumn ground.

"I see you took care of the problem." I flipped the hair from my face and put my hands on my lower back to observe our work of art, then cringed when I felt my wounded leg.

"Phew, that was fun. Let's do this next week." Mike rested his elbow on my shoulder.

"What are we going to do now? We have no leads to where this group is and we have no place to sleep…" I looked up to Mike.

"Ya know that it is only like nine in the morning, right? And we have somewhat of a lead. Look." Mike rubbed his injured arm. Tracy's cell phone was in her side pocket, and must have fallen out when I kicked her. I immediately picked it up and automatically erased my phone numbers from her phone. Why did I just do that? Shrugging my shoulders to myself I look at her recent text messages, nothing. Ah, there was a name to a phone number and an address to that very same phone number in her contacts.

"Here it is." I handed it over to him.

"5439 Violet Hill Lane Kentucky. Hm. Why didn't she put our town? Doesn't matter. Violet Hill… Violet Hill…." He trailed off.

"I know that is a song by Coldplay, but I have never heard of that street or address." I confessed.

"Oh. I know where that is. That is a lot to walk to though. Hurry up and get your backpack from over there." He pointed to my backpack.

By the time we got to our "camp" it was about ten at night. Honestly, I am afraid of the dark, but right now my feet hurt, my body is aching and my leg hurt like it never has before because of the gunshot wound. Making sure there were no bugs on the tree or around it, I sat down, leaning against the tree. Mike remembered my leg after he set a campfire and he pushed up my jeans. He grabbed his small flashlight and revealed the crusted wound. What horrified me was that Mike had hand sanitizer and poured it onto my leg. I dug my nails into the stale soil and writhed around. My jeans were a bit to long for me, so he ripped an inch of it off and tied it tight around my leg, which didn't hurt as much. After the ordeal, I sat there, breathing heavily. Soon after that, I limped on over to Mike and looked at his shoulder and his arm.

"You don't need to do that." He insisted.

"Look at your arm! You have a hole in your shoulder the size of a quarter and your cuts from yesterday have reopened. Hand over the hand sanitizer." I held out my hand. He placed it in my hand hesitantly and I pulled it away from him, but he didn't let go. So I pulled harder and harder until he finally was able to let go of it. Knowing how painful it would be, as harmless as it sounds, I held onto his hand and squeezed the bottle all over his shredded arm. I couldn't help but fall to one knee; he was scraping his nails against my skin. His brown eyes twitched more and more after seconds passed of the sanitizer touching his broken skin, the pain increasing every second.

"You can stop now!" I coughed. I rolled over to my side, clenching my delicate hand. Five indents were made to my skin and stung when anything touched it. I gathered my self together and ripped of the plaid sleeve of my over shirt to use as a bandage for Mike's arm.

"There you go." I smiled, defeated by Mike. I made sure that there were no bugs near the tree trunk a couple yards from the fire once again. I leaned against it and gradually reached the insect-free bottom. I scavenged through my backpack, looking if I had any food or water.

"Aha! Three water bottles!" I exclaimed the importance.

"Do you have any food?" Mike walked over.

"Everyday I put a granola bar or something in the front of my backpack just in case I am hungry, so yes." I nodded. To tired to throw him one, I use my ability and "fly" it over to him, which was unnecessary because he then sat in place beside me.

"Thanks. I was worried sick about you when you died." Mike looked at me.

"I was too." I sighed.

"I really care about you. You are special to me. And I was wondering something." Mike awkwardly put it. Was he going to ask what I think he was asking?

"Do you think that we would be like brother and sister after this? I mean like we won't go back to our daily lives without each other?" He let out. Relief flooded my veins.

"Of course we will stay this close after this!" I answered.

"That is good." He breathed.

"What did you think of me when you first saw me in school?" I broke the silence, rubbing my leg.

"I found you very attractive and smart. And your laughing was bubbly. It made the ability to laugh more enjoyable, ya know? What did you think of me?" Mike concluded. I paused for a moment.

"Let me see. I thought you were quite a cute guy. Your voice made me feel safe every time I heard it, and your sense of mental strength is amazing." I laid my head on his shoulder.

"I lied to you about my parents and brother. My brother is actually in the military. A couple of months ago, my parents were taken as prisoners from the people we are after." Mike sniffed.

"Wow. That must be really hard." I was blank. I felt nothing, no sadness, no surprise, nothing. Noises blasted in my head that I heard from the animals out and about in the land.

"Are you okay? You don't look so well." Mike felt my head. Warmth slowed down my heart and my reflexes. No strength was found in my bones and I let my head rest on Mike's shoulders.

"Yeah. I am just tired." I lied. I could hear nor think of anything, just my heartbeat. My eyes closed, and I was half asleep,


	6. Chapter 6

"Renee help!" A voice cried out in my head, arousing me from my wonderful world of dreams. Agony filled my heart. This could not have been happening again. My eyes flew open yet again, but found nothing abnormal. The darkness of the night filled the sky and saturated the ground. Little gusts of cool wind blew against my rough skin. Still next to me, Mike was sound asleep. He sleeps just like my dad sleeps. You could honestly assume that he was dead, for his breathing was so relaxed so slow, you could not see his chest move up and down. Crickets chirped, but nothing else was heard. I relaxed a little tiny bit knowing that it was just a figment of my startled imagination. For once I did not have to go to the bathroom during the night, nor was I thirsty, thank God. I knew drinking before I went to sleep would quench my thirst for the night. I yawned and put my right wrist to my face and pushed the glow in the dark button on my watch. 2:52 am. There was ample time to sleep, unless Mike decides to wake up at six in the morning to start our journey again. Exhaustion coated my bones, and I closed my horrified eyes to float down the stream of dreams that lay in my mind.

Sunlight shown through my thin eyelids, and woke me up gently. At first I thought where I was, was normal, until I rubbed my sore eyes. The rough sound of an engine vibrated the seats of the silver car I was resting in. Unbelievably my father was driving the car. He was wearing a suit without the suit jacket, his clean-shaven face had grown a bit of grey stubble and his eyes were sunken in.

"Morning daddy." I yawned. Though I did not think it was abnormal, my mind didn't fully get it, and then a light bulb finally went off in my groggy head.

"Wait. Dad? Who… Why... How? Ehhh…." I shook my confused head.

"It is okay sweetie, you are fine now." He ruffled my hair. Dad never used to do that. I guess an event like this would change you. Feeling my side to see if I still had my important backpack, I situated myself comfortably and flinched when my leg brushed the seat.

"What happened?" My dad glanced at me.

"Nothing, just a bruise." I fibbed. He looked me in the eye and I spilled the truth.

"Um. How do I put this delicately? I was shot. Yeah." I rubbed my hands together, anticipating how he would react. Minutes passed by and I noticed in the corner of my eye that he was turning red. Anger maybe?

"Tell me who did that to you!" He raised his deep, deep voice. Nothing else happened. Usually my dad would visibly get angry: his face would turn red, a frown appeared and there was always this one vein that would bulge out of his lean neck. Was this also part of the shock from what he has been through? Surely it will wear off soon, leaving him to his old self once again.

"The people who captured you. Mike was shot too." I echoed. Mike… Mike!

"Where is Mike?" I looked around, panicking. He was nowhere in sight. No one was sitting in the grey back car seats. A resonating laugh blasted my eardrums. Weird, dad doesn't laugh like that. I flicked the thought out of my mind, and laid back into my seat, letting out a sigh.

"I sent him to be a decoy. Okay?" My dad grinned. This day could not get any stranger.

"Renee." A silvery sound whispered. Startled, I looked behind me to my left. No one was there.

"Yes?" I replied.

"Who are you talking to?" My father rasped. My face transformed into a confused mess.

"Uh… No one. Must have been day dreaming there." I hoped I was right.

"You are not safe." Another icy voice pleaded with me. I rubbed my face hard and slowly. Was I going insane? I didn't feel alarmed, but I felt sick to my stomach with anxiety and groaned with impatience. I turned to the window to observe the scenery to clear my mind. Dear God, please help me! I prayed constantly. It was only about maybe eleven in the morning, but the night seemed to have overtaken the misty day. I must be day dreaming, was the thought that I forced myself to believe. So I let myself drift of into the unknown realm of my imagination. Mike appeared before my eyes on the ground just standing there, saying nothing as if he couldn't do anything. Then he was melting, yet he did nothing. He turned inside out, literally, and then a figure crept out of this molten body. I can't, I wouldn't, describe what the figure was. I blinked, I pinched myself, I turned to my father, in which he patted me on my shoulder, but the thing was still there. On the verge of insanity, I focused on something positive, which ended up not working.

The figure turned into dust, and then my mother rose up from the ashes unscathed. Guilt and sorrow broke down the barrier in my mind of my mother. It was all my fault! I knew that she was allergic to the medication. Why didn't I ask the doctor for a different medication so that there was no chance of my mom taking the medication by accident? She looked so innocent and forgiving. I never really looked like my mom, but I had her personality. Her hair was a light brown, and it was wavy, not curly. Her eyes were a dancing deep brown and she always wore the loveliest dresses. What I loved the most about my mom was that she always made me feel better about myself, even when I felt the most down. And in just a second, she was gone and everything was normal.

Finally, my dad drove us to where we needed to be: a small barn. Interesting, but better than nothing. Once we were inside, I was surprised about what was inside. Torture devices! Why would we be here, we are the good guys and we didn't even have any prisoners anyway. I whipped around to see not my dad, but some random guy who was stout.

"Who are you?" I squealed in horror.

"Not your father." He snorted. Just when I figured out he was a shapeshifter as well as my dad, I was already strapped to a torture bed, cold and hard. I panicked, there was nothing I could do, my abilities were not working. A familiar stench replaced the somewhat clean air.

"How many of you guys are there?" I whispered.

"Plenty." The green man smirked. The two evil men chattered and argued, mainly about me. Then they left, leaving me here to die.

"You've gotta be kidding me! You can't leave me here! You know you guys are lame! You were only here for like five seconds!" I uselessly tried reasoning with the two enigmas nonchalantly walking outside. It was muggy inside here and the ground was just dirt. Plain and simple. The devices were very disturbing and there was nothing else in this petrifying barn. I was so terrified; I couldn't register any type fear, panic or emotion. I had to think quickly, my abilities still didn't work. My eyes bounced from the ceiling to the desk and all around the table. Aha! This bed was not made of metal, but wood. Old wood, and had a crack where my lower back is. All I need to do is break it, then go off from there. I started to ram my butt onto the table. Creaking started to sound, and then it happened: it broke. All of the table broke, even the legs broke off.

"Okay. How am I supposed to get off of this thing?" I puffed. The hard wood pulled me down and I struggled to stand. I could just make out the devises organized on the other tables when the obvious thought struck my drowning mind: the knife! But how to use it? There is no way I could use the darn thing without dropping it on my foot or who knows what. Even though it was light outside, it was very dark and murky in here. I could pick up some sort of sound, but I was too concerned about my wellbeing at the moment. Giving up, my knees buckle and I plummeted to the floor, with my bottom hitting the mushy floor. My pants started vibrating, and I thought it was my phone for a second, but remembered it is in my sweater pocket.

"This feels very weird." I said to myself. Worried, I get on my knees and tried to crawl my way to the side to observe what I fell on. Buzzing and soon sparking, a panel was buried under the floor. It seemed lethal to me so I battled to get onto my feet. As soon as I had my balance, I started to smash the electric panel feebly. It started to set off an alarm, or at least it said so on a flickering sign on the panel. Aggression rose in my parched throat, which led me to bash the panel to bits until the sign was not visible. Nothing could stop me now, except allergies. A burning sensation filled my nose and I opened up my mouth to sneeze. ACHOO! I blasted myself through the old barn's wall and out into the open, crushing the gigantic burden on my back to free myself from the weight. Wonderful breezes cooled my hot head and the sound of long grass crunching under my feet eased my mind.

"So that is how they do that! Smart. But how does a panel do that? Whatever, doesn't matter anyway." I grabbed my backpack and went off walking, not knowing where to go or what to do. And as I started my long trek to find my dad and Mike, I talked to myself to clear what was in my head.

"This sucks! This is so annoying; none of this makes any sense. Mike would know what to do and dad would know how to do it. I know nothing and I almost got myself killed. This is just what happens to me in school. I take migraine medication and get sleepy instead of going home. Then, I have to lie to the teacher about having anxiety. I don't have anxiety! Maybe that is why the only friends I have are Mike and Serenity. Having a billion friends are not important though, but it would be nice if people would notice me now and again. I mean, I try to make friends and I act as if I care about stuff that don't matter so I can have a freaking conversation… Wait a sec… That makes no sense! Every one at school comes to me for advice and I am actually quite popular among my classmates… Must be my mind going shock. It just must be." I pleaded to myself. Tears formed around my eyes, making everything blurry. Figures showed up from nowhere, taunting me and whispered unrecognizable words. I gagged from indescribable fear and realization that I was going crazy, no doubt about it. Some words I was able to make out, but they were not pleasant in any fashion. They said that I would die a horrible and slow death, gasping from the sight of seeing my body contorted and bloodied. I stopped, to frightened and flustered to move or breathe.

"God! Tell them to stop! Please please please! Send someone to save me from my mind! Help!" I wailed, shaking uncontrollably. God answered my prayers even before I wailed them out into the empty distance. Cold hands held me and pushed me down to the grassy ground.

"Sh, sh. Renee, what is wrong?" Mike whispered in my ear. And they were gone.

"Help me. Help me." I whimpered. My wrists were sorer than ever and nothing seemed to be able to be accomplished.

"You are with me, okay? Just don't let go of me the rest of the way and you will be fine." Mike encouraged me to get up from my mental misery.


	7. Chapter 7

Mike clenched onto my hand, to worried about my well being to let go. Sensitive to the touch, I could feel his breathing, his heart pounding through his chest. Though I could feel everything that was going on, I was trapped in my mind.

"You can't go this way! Go back." Voices passed through the wonder of my mind. A tall man stuttered words of no meaning. Wrinkles overlapped his eyes and mouth, only revealing a mass of spiders replacing his nose. Shivers crept up my bones, violently shaking my weak limbs. I shut my eyes with such a force that when I opened my eyes, all I could see, for only moments, were colors. Which eventually ebbed away too quick, unfortunately. Masses of hundreds of people were running towards us and I jumped, but the tug on my hand gave me the signal that nothing was there. My stomach rose to my throat in pure agony: I knew my sanity was disintegrating every second. Crying would be of no help, for I knew for a fact that there was worse to come for my state.

"Why won't you ever listen to me Renee?" I heard Mike scold me. His voice was not coming from next to me, but yards away in front of me. On the ground next to him was I, pathetically rubbing my bloody face and looking at Mike's hand, saturated with my own blood. Fear pricked at my head. I remember when he did that. That was only a few hours ago. What did I do? No light bulb brightened the dark recesses of my brain. Only then did I realize that, that never happened in the first place. So I shook my head from the realistic false memory that haunted my soul. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Steamy breaths created a stench so wretched and foul that I felt light headed and woozy. I turned my head, my teeth clenched, to find nothing. My breathing wavered while my heart raced faster and faster. Bones stiffened in my body, but I soldiered on, walking in pace with Mike: the only person keeping me from going completely insane.

"Why won't you listen? You must find another way to get to your dad." A deep voice clearly warned me. A gust of wind rose then knocked me to the hardened ground. The veil that fogged my troubled mind finally lifted. Comforting joy and relief forced me to laugh to the point where my legs were jelly and I could not support myself. All of a sudden, something possessed me. Whatever this was, was only allowing me to have my thoughts. Not my ability to speak, move or any other normal functions I would usually have control over. It was as if I was a puppet in a dream.

"Turn around." My eyes clouded and I spoke. I scrunched up my eyebrows in dismay. Mike stopped dead in his tracks.

"Come one Renee. You are not exactly mentally sound right now. It is just the shock." He grabbed my hand.

"No we are falling into a trap!" I argued. What am I saying? Summoning all of the strength I had left in me for that one brisk moment, I staggered to the side, fighting for my body back.

"Renee, we are going to see your father, okay? He won't be alive for long if we stop now." He pulled me. I tossed him to the side with wind then I started to choke. My shaking hands wrapped around my neck. A person appeared in front of us, leaving us in pure awe. This person was at least six foot two and short, light brown hair crowned his attractive face. He must be at least nineteen. Absorbing air from the plants around me, my stomach fluttered and I instinctively rubbed my throat.

"Are you seeing this too?" I croaked. Mike, too, sat on the ground bewildered. His heavy breathing slowed and he turned his gaze to me, smiling.

"So you weren't insane after all?" Mike sighed in relief.

"You two must go another way to that compound that has imprisoned her father." His face stone hard and impossible to read.

"…. Okay? We will, won't we Renee?" Mike obviously believed this sight.

"Yes, but who are you? And what were you doing to me?" I returned my burning gaze to the phenomenon.

"Alex. I am a fellow mutant, but you guys probably know that by now. I am with those hundreds of people and mutants waiting for people or mutants like you guys." He turned red.

"Then why are you warning us? And how did you know where we were?" Mike took his turn in asking.

"Well… That is a really good question." Alex paused. Scratching his head, he sighed.

"You see, I was sent to kill you guys essentially, but I never wanted to join this group—" Alex was cut off by Mike.

"Then why did you join?" Mike finally got up.

"Because…. Because I used to be one of them, wanting to destroy everything. This was years ago, but after torturing the minds of innocent people, my eyes were introduced to the truth of it all. Now I have been secretly fighting for your side." He opened up to us two complete strangers.

"Then why would we trust you? This could be a trap for all we know." I questioned him logically. This seemed to have hurt him in a more different way that anyone should have expected. Mike whisked his way to me, the "damsel in distress."

"We trust you. Don't be silly Renee." Mike cleared his raspy voice. I flashed him a panicked look. He bent down to whisper in my ear:

"I can see it in him, he is telling the truth." Mike stroked my hair.

"Alex, I change my mind. I really do trust you now." I went up to him and smiled. He mimicked my smile and faded into the distance.

"Well, that was informational." I took a water bottle from my backpack to throw to Mike.

"Thanks. Ya wanna know somethin'?" He threw his head backwards to suck in a gulp of water.

"Sure." I took another bottle out of my backpack to quench my arid mouth. Laughter spilled out of Mike.

"I think you guys like each other." He circled me. The thought of even thinking that was preposterous, but there could be some truth in that. I do enjoy the thought of Alex liking me. My heart does thump at the mention of his name.

"No. Maybe you're the insane one." I blushed. Darn! Why do I always have to blush?

"I knew it! You like him." Mike's voice became all mushy and annoying.

"Even if I did like him, which I DON'T, why would he like me?" I sighed still standing.

"Cause you're cute AND smart. Most girls that ask me out are just cute, not smart. You are the perfect combination." Mike winked and waved his arm for me to follow. Sighing, I picked up my backpack and trudged on.

"Come on, he just met me, and we still technically haven't met in person yet." I stumbled to the side.

"But didn't you see the look on his face when you said you didn't trust him? He was crushed!" Mike seemed to have glared at me.

"Though that is true, he could have just been disappointed because he wanted to get out of that wretched place." I attempted to reason.

"No no no Renee. Just think about it for a sec." he objected.

"You've gotta be kidding me. Why couldn't a girl make you think you were insane?" I complained.

"Because that was not meant to be." Mike twirled around in a circle, making a joke of it all.

"Oh…My…Gosh… I am so glad I am with you. Who knows how Serenity would have reacted to this." I bubbled up with laughter. Serenity!

"Mike, Mike! You know how there would be times where we could not use our abilities? Well it is because of a panel. It vibrates when a mutant is near." I threw it all out there.

"What?" Mike wrinkled his forehead.

"The bad people…. They need a name Mike. I feel like a little kid making up a story." I shuddered.

"I don't know due to the fact that I don't know the leader. Let's just stick with the bad guys.

"Oh well. Anyway it just confuses me cause it is electrical." I pictured the panel in my hands. As I followed mike, the open plain stretched into a thick, concentrated forest. Shadows seemed to have pierced the light in this moment, decreasing the warmth of our bodies.

"Hm. I have never heard of that. I heard of the ability to absorb powers, but not an electronic panel absorbing powers. But whoever invented that kind of technology could be the most powerful person or mutant in the world." Mike rambled on and on.

"The panels are easy to break though. Just stomp on it a couple of times." I too, rambled on. Mike didn't reply. Silence over came us. I don't know why; because we are tired, contemplating, or we simply just want some peace and quiet to ourselves.

Hours passed by and the sun was setting. Mike had literally fallen asleep. His eyes closed while he was next to a tree and fell down, asleep. One of my favorite songs could be heard. It didn't dawn on me that it was my phone until I started to hum it.

"Hello? I answered.

"Renee, this is your father." My dad's voice whispered.

"How do I know this is really you?" I picked my words carefully.

"You have taken over a thousand pictures in the past year alone. There are thousands more on your laptop from the past seven years." My dad sped through his proof. No one would know this unless this really is my dad. Good.

"But how?"

"I have a buddy of mine here that has been captured by these people. She can turn objects invisible. She also understands that you are going to save us. But that is not important. Now listen to me very carefully. There is one panel, which I am assuming you know about, in each building. There is one generator in one of the buildings. You need to kill the electricity from these things. I have to go. Bye sweetie." My dad said farewell.

"Bye." I heard the dead tone. There was no way I could worry anymore. Not because of the way I felt; stiffness locked my joints, pricking my lower back. I couldn't bend for the ability to breathe while bending became limited. Yes, I felt sick and beaten up, but no, I am not worrying. It is obvious that we (my dad, Mike, and I) had a guardian angel. We should all be dead right now, especially Dad. My eyes heavy and dry became constantly alert to my surroundings. The night tonight was a bluish-grey color, washed in the moonlight. Unfortunately, the portion of the tremendous forest we are in is extremely dense, so I could only get glimpses of the beautiful sky. For the next fifteen minutes, my covered arms' goose bumps were on end. Crickets boasted their chirping, knowing that we would never be able to find them. Soft snoring came from Mike, which struck me as cute.

"Hey Renee, are you awake?" Alex's voice popped into my occupied mind.

"Yes I can't seem to bring myself to sleep." I thought. How weird this was, having someone enter your most private place.

"I am on duty tonight as a look out. It's so tedious because nobody comes here." Alex replied.

"Haha. I am listening to The Joplin Spider on my Ipod."

"You know that they allow those listening devices here?"

"I don't mean to get off topic, but are there any mutants like you?"

"Yes, but I have had practice on how to block them from my mind."

"That is good. Brings so much peace to me… So why don't you tell me about yourself?"

"Lemme think…"

"You have to think about it?" I joked around.

"Haha. I am turning nineteen in a couple of months and my parents think that I am traveling to other countries to learn other cultures and what not." Alex finished.

"Hmm…. I am sure you have more secrets, but I guess that I can't make you tell me."

"There is this one secret that I have not told anyone. I had a weird dream about you guys. Somehow I became the leader and killed my parents. Other series of disturbing events occurred, but I wish not to tell. But then we started dating…" He trailed off. This intrigued me. Maybe Mike was right. Darn!

"What did Mike say?"

"Um… Okay… Mike said that we like each other. I am not 'thinking' anything, er, implying anything. It is just a thought that randomly appeared. That is all."

"No, don't worry. That happens sometimes. Our mind has a mind of its own sometimes. One that note, look up." He seemed to have pointed in my head. Uncertainty stood in the night sky, as I understood, even though I could not see it. A flash of light glowed through the branches of the trees blinding my left eye and left spots in my right eye.

"What was that? I stared in awe.

"That, my friend, is one of my favorite things: a shooting star. I have only seen five." His voice relaxed.

"How? I have only seen parts of one which is this one." I took a drink of water.

"I can access memories…. Any who, what school do you go to?" He chuckled in my mind.

"Perry's Highschool." I bluntly answered.

"Hey that is the school that I went to! Does Ms. Wakes still teach there?"

"Yes, but she is so boring."

"Not when I went there." Alex informed me.


	8. Chapter 8

Alex's last reply rang in my head while I fell asleep. He knew, of course, that I shut off my brain for the night. I think he said good night, but I wasn't completely sure. Feelings of security embraced my unsettled ponderings this time. Not feelings of fear or disgust, uncertainty or hatred: just safety and love. My heart swelled for the first time since the death of my mom. Optimism is what she cherished the most because without hope, you're lost and without having a bright out look on everything, you feel abandoned. In turn, I don't know if I made myself do this or not, but I had positive out looks in my dreams. Dreams of my mom happy and proud with my dad and me. Soon, I found myself in our usual place at church. Warm incense filled the air and our hearts, opening them up for the Lord. Serenity appeared here and there hugging me or telling jokes, wearing bright, dancing colors. Mike, clean and unscratched, walked with me in the forest, safe and sound, waiting for the sunset. Discovering that I am a mutant didn't mess with me anymore, I accepted myself.

For once I awakened before the early riser, Mike. He hadn't moved at all, not even a twitch. I slammed him with strong wind. Brown hair flailed in the blast then calmed down. Nothing. He is worse than my dad! I approached Mike with confidence, putting (literally) my best foot forward. Though I did, initially, have a fairly good sense of balance, I tumbled over a gnarled root and my elbow planted into the soft ground, the mud cooling my sweater. Trees prevented the weak rays of the sun from reaching our shriveled bodies. And at that moment, looking over the past week or so, I realized that I am a complete klutz. No doubt about it. That must have been obvious since junior high. I managed to dig my nails into the ground to hoist myself up from the damp smelling grass to shake Mike. Expecting to feel his warmth, I bent down to shake him. But no, my hands had to plunge into him, striking the forest floor once again. Quickly, I flipped over and lay there.

"Why are you waking me up? And why does everything hurt?...Nevermind I remember." Mike talked between stretches.

"I don't think that is the question. I think the question is: Why didn't you wake up?" I rolled over and popped right up.

I never really expected for us to be quiet until now. We've been walking since 10:15 this morning and now it is three in the afternoon. My stomach gave the sensation it was biting itself from within. This made me wonder if Mike was mad at me. Was it because I had run out of snacks? No, it can't be. Whatever, it doesn't matter anyway. The forest thinned out to a few trees here and there, but it is very dark and eerie out today.

"We should be there in a minute or two." Mike croaked. Then it hit me, we have not drank anything since last night. I attempted to talk, but the words and my voice were stuck in my throat. I reached into my pocket and felt around. Gum!

"Here, take this." I offered. I peeled back the silver wrapper and lift it to my mouth, the fresh aroma teasing my taste buds.

"Thanks… Wow this is a big building." Mike mumbled. Seven large buildings lay before our eyes. Rust crusted the buildings creating an old, battered look. The environment surrounding those buildings were dark as night. The menacing clouds swallowed the sun, capturing the radiating heat. What hit us hard as odd is the fact that there are no guards at all. No one. A hand tapped my shoulder and apparently did the same to Mike. A flash of annoyance reflected in his face. No soul could blame him, what we are about to do something is serious and could cause us our lives.

"Remember you guys. You can't use your abilities until you destroy the panels." Alex's voice boomed in our heads.

"Okay, so how are we going to do this?" Mike scratched his head. The buildings are placed strategically in the middle of a painfully open plain. The only cover we have is the fact that it is eerily dark right at this moment. If only we could find some shrubbery.

"Over there Renee." Mike crept up to my side, pointing towards the place I was trying to discover. I obediently nodded and followed him around the edge of the forest. Clumps of trees and bushes gave way to a semi pathway lined with stumpy bushes here and there. We ducked our heads once we reached the "pathway", putting one foot after another mechanically. Our breathing became harsh and blood feverishly rushed to my head. The "pathway", in reality, was not that long: in fact it was incredibly short. However, each step that was taken by Mike and me took thirty seconds minimum. Our cover kept shrinking, forcing us to scrunch down in an awkward position. Sneaking around shouldn't be this hard when you are this young. At least that is what I have always thought. Mike flinched each time a twig cracked or a leaf fell. Finally, we reached the locked door. Red splotches were everywhere on this door that holds the fate of possibly every mutant and human being. Blood, rust, paint? God only knows. One of the biggest moments in my life is about to happen, so of course I am confused and having second thoughts. But something is weighing my heart down.

"Hey Mike. I needa tell you something." I tapped him on the shoulder. No sign of annoyance on his face.

"Yeah." He examined every inch of the door.

"Are you mad at me?" I had to ask. He looked at me confused.

"No. Why would you ask? Did I say something in a wrong way?" He tried making sense of it.

"Well… No, but… I don't know. I feel like your irritated." I admitted.

"Okay. I lied about my family twice to you and I feel bad about it. The truth is that my parents abandoned me when they found out about me being a mutant. I do have a brother in the military, but he abandoned me as well. I have been living alone since I was fifteen. Your dad arranged for me to live in this apartment where he would pay my rent until I was able to pay on my own. I have just been thinking about this these past couple days." He sniffed.

"That is terrible Mike! I am so sorry!" I hugged him. The unexpected sympathy from me at first surprised him and he stiffened. After a couple of seconds he relaxed and returned the favor. Bitter tears dripped onto my head. His heart must be broken, torn into pieces like that.

"We have to go on now. This is what we do. You get into those bushes over there and I will go to the ones parallel from those. We have to draw the attention from the guards inside, so we will have to throw pebbles at the door on my signal. When the guard comes out, I will distract him and you go inside to find and destroy those panels as well as save those people inside." Mike bent over and whispered clearly into my ear. I tried not to trip and fall as I was tiptoeing to "my" bush. Leaves pricked my gunshot wound. I squirmed, biting my tongue. Pain burned my leg up to my eye, as weird as that is. But I had to go on. I needed to buck up. Even darker in the shelter of the bushes, I miraculously found seven pebbles. I poked my head out, wincing at a leaf pricking my eye. Tears formed, sliding down my face. Blinking away the tears, I saw a dirty hand signaling for me to commence in this nearing battle we will soon face. Every single muscle screamed in desperation not to throw anything, but to rest. My mind quarreled with my bones and won. I need to save Serenity and my dad. Taking a deep breath, I threw the two pebbles at the door. Mike followed, but with more strength and grace. The door creaked to reveal a rather scrawny man. From the little openings the leaves allowed, my eyes spotted another object flying in the air and hitting the light skinned man square in the head. He grunted and leaned to the left, making towards Mike. Excitement mixed with the fear of failure, powering my mind to become doubtful. My heart told me different, so I zipped up my sweater and tightened my backpack. I backed up bracing myself for what is yet to come. The shrieks of Mike in pain made me cry, but there was no time.

Looking at the scrawny man, he produced spikes everywhere in his body, puffing him up into a porcupine. Luckily he left the door wide open and I slipped through. The interior was just as dark, but more depressing than its counterpart. Water trickled down the rough stone walls that separate the cries of the innocent lives in this Hell from the unknowing world that may never see this crime. The room that I have gotten myself into stunk of urine and putrid poo. How gross and disgusting, living in this! I couldn't bare it and I have only been in here for less than a minute. What about the people who have been living in this for years? Another door that leads to my dad caught my angered eyes. I rammed my shirt to my nose and picked my way to the door to twist the doorknob. I opened it ever so slightly and peaked. Two other rooms such as this one were situated on the opposite sides of this hallway. As I snuck around, cages came to my attention. Cages that were filled with the young lives of mutants. Spanning from babies to at least eleven year olds, their faces sunk in unable to shed more tears. As I peered closer, I noticed that they had some weird sign burned into them. A snake? Yes that is what it is, a snake. Why would a snake be burned onto these people? A little boy became aware that I was here, peeking at bits and pieces of their condition.

"Help us." He mouthed.

"I am." I whispered softly. Who does this? This is pure torture and inhuman. How can these people just stand and watch? Just then, laughing could be heard from one of the morbid rooms. Thinking quick, I looked around. Nothing, just this hallway of starving children. That is until I spotted a reflection in the dim light. Keys, transparent keys. Smart. I held my breath and snatched the keys. I searched for the "best" cage to hide. The cage that contained the girl was in a darker place, and the corner of it could easily conceal me.

"Shh. I am helping you guys, but you have to be quiet." I informed every one in the hallway, unlocking the cage of girl of possibly ten years old. The girl stepped out of my way as I relocked the rusted door. I scrambled into the corner, grabbing her blanket.

"Hey what is your name?" I tried breaking the ice. I wrapped myself head to toe into the blanket, rolling to the very back of the cage against the wall.

"Missy." She stayed facing the cage.

"I am Renee. Nice to meet you." I mumbled through the damp blanket. The clanking sound of boots marched down the hallway, echoes following the footsteps.

"Where is the key Missy?" A high-pitched voice of a man demanded. Vibrations messaged my back. The panel is in here? Can't anyone of the kids tell?

"I don't know." She lied.

"Do you want to be burned again?" He threatened, grabbing her dress' collar.

"No." Missy whimpered.

"Then tell me where the darn keys are!" He put one hand on the lock, melting it. I kneed the panel, flipping around, unraveling the blanket, and propelled myself forward, bouncing off of the ground with the help of my trusty ability.

"I have it!" I exclaimed. The man's eyes were flared with anger and glowed red with intensity. With a snap, his arms combusted into flames. This should be fun. Automatically, I thrust my hands forward. The flame did not go out this time. I somersaulted out of the prison, kicked the door open. Bright red flames surged at me, but I blocked the blow. Five other men came out from the rooms. Two of which are twins. I couldn't pay much more attention. I ran and jumped off of the wall, jabbing the fiery man. He didn't seem affected by it and kept throwing blows at me. I collapsed to the ground with my barrier still up. Everything was fuzzy and the feeling in my legs went away.

"What? No way!" I mumbled to myself. Coughing was the only thing that could be heard from me. I shook, lifting my fist up, hoping for two results. Slowly, I regained the feeling in my legs and the fuzziness went away. Heat no longer radiated from the red-eyed man, instead he stiffened and died. The biggest man of all, however, still stood, thinking there was no way I was to survive. Another mutant able to control air, someone who could match me step by step. I looked up, the other five people acted strange: they just stood there.

"What are you—" I twisted my head. Two blurs of black passed my sight and landed on me. I huffed without the ability to breath at all. Nor was I able to move, having two fully-grown men crush my lungs. Somehow I was hearing all that was going on. Apparently Mike had come in, stunned by the sight and rushed to rescue me, but was ambushed. I don't know how, but I just know. Fading in and out of consciousness, I could feel pressure building in my head, my eyes feeling as if they were going to pop out at any moment. This is it, we failed. All of a sudden, a bloodcurdling scream rushed passed my ears, muffling the noises of scared children. Air flooded my lungs and I felt light once more.

"Mike?" I stayed down, recapturing my breath.

"I'll explain later." Mike wiped crimson drops from his mangled forehead.

"Mike, look out!" I yelled. A human, crazed and horrified, charged Mike. Standing on one foot, he snatched a pin from my hair. Red pulses of energy rippled along the pin. While the pin charged, the pulses formed into a cross and then two words formed above it: "I am". In a flash it was gone, and I was left with the feeling of hope. Mike saw it too and wobbled then shot the measly scrap of metal, targeting the huge lump of muscle that charged at Mike. No time was available to let out a screech of dismay for the pitiful man. After the ordeal, none of the men that came were alive.

"…Huh?" I lifted myself up partially.

"I promise that I didn't find this out until a few minutes ago." He urged.

"I got the kids." A young girl transformed into a woman.

"This is really her. She has been waiting for this day to come for a long time." The young girl that I shared a cell with tapped me.

"I guess we'll have to trust her." I swapped glances with Mike. Letting out a deep breath, he agreed with some resistance.

"Good luck." The woman shook our hands.

Nothing changed outside, but that is not entirely true. A contorted man lay, fried, on the grass.

"Renee watch out!" Mike warned me. He started towards me, confused, with a pebble in his hand. In a flash, the charged pebble flung out of hands. I ducked drawing up a barrier. The impact propelled me backwards into the air. I flipped, barley grazing a tree stump.

"What are you doing?" I scolded him.

"I am NOT doing this." Mike pleaded.

"Then what do you suppose this is?" I brushed myself off. A familiar feeling swept over me.

"Watch out!" I crouched backwards, bracing myself. I became a puppet on a stage once again. Air erupted from my hands, picking up debris from the ground. Mike stood there, waiting to die. His mind had a different idea: the debris passed right though him. There is no way to kill him, but there is a definite way to kill me. My feet were glued to the ground, I couldn't move at all. Mike twirled a tree branch in his hand then fired it at me.

"No!" Mike screeched. It was to late. The weapon pierced through my abdomen into the surrounding forest. Cries could be picked up from behind me. I shrunk into a ball and clasped my hands to my stomach. No more pain nor was there a mark. Just blood. Stunned, I lifted up my shirt, just enough to reveal my belly. I touched it, only the blood smudged. I rubbed that away and only my skin was there. No wound, nothing.

"Mike!" I hollered. Mike was turned around, not willing to see the sight. I scampered to him and patted him on his back.

"Look Mike." I ordered. He curved around, only to be in awe. Chills streamed down my leg. Pulling up my jeans, I saw the bullet that was lodged in my leg on the blood stained grass.

"But…" Mike coughed.

"I don't know either."

"Could it be?" Mike talked to himself.

"Could it be what?" I insisted.

"I need to test something, but it is going to sting for only a bit." Mike took out his pocketknife.

"Just a sting?" I asked.

"Well, I am going to give you a small cut." Mike opened the knife.

"Hm… Okay, but only if you are sure your plan will work." I had no clue what I had gotten myself into. He took hold of my muddied hand and set the blade on my palm. He cut my hand with precision. Of course I writhed, but observed the wound. As soon as he stopped, the cut faded away leaving no scar.


	9. Chapter 9

"Wait a sec. We are free." I pointed out.

"That can mean one of two things: I accidentally killed the people who were controlling us, or they went to get more people. Come on, let's check it out." Mike suddenly whispered. He led me back to the forest. Leaves bustled when we brushed them away from our faces. Trees lined up side-by-side, bushes befriending them. Sod sprinkled the ground, free of debris other than some dead leaves. My knees buckled un- expectantly. Damp soil broke my fall and stained my side.

"Are you okay?" Mike mouthed. Pain seared up my tainted leg. I twisted to glance at him. No, I am not okay. There is nothing with me or in me that is okay. You would honestly think that he would know that by now. My eyes filled with tears, never able to force the pain out of the emotional concoction brewing in my heart. Mike dove right next to me.

"What are you doing?" I mouthed, a bit annoyed.

"Look through the bushes." He mouthed back, violently pointing his finger over me. Sighing, I turned my head. My eyes widened: ten men, all the same man, obtained weapons of all sorts. Synchronized hand signals bombarded my sight. I snapped back to Mike, who was still staring at me. His face contorted into a questioning glance. I didn't know what to say, or should I say mouth.

"I think…" I mouthed, but stifled myself. Creaking of the hard wood distracted everyone outside. My eyes crept to see what is going on above my head. A hand shaped object slid off of the branch. I cocked my head to the side. Before I was focused enough to see the reality of what it was, a body came crashing against me. A sharp, stinging scream pierced the humid air, coming from my meager lungs. A mucky hand slapped onto my mouth, silencing my shrieks. I dug my nails in the mud, the cool feeling calming the shivers running through my arms. A dead man hovered over me, blood drizzling from the infliction of the gruff man. One drop of blood came face to face with my eye, my new focal point.

"Renee, Renee, look at me." Mike whispered, cupping my chin with his hand. Breathing came out of me, short and shallow. I faced him very closely and gulped. His eyes expressed a deep sense of security and reassurance. A smile formed on his cut up face, glowing in the darkness that cloaked our lives. Like never before, my breathing became normal. The intense shaking and anxiety vanished.

"Push the guy away." He instructed. I slightly moved my hand, sending the dead man smashing through the leafy abyss.

"Listen to me. Things are going to get very bad. You must not stop holding my hand. I have to let go of you for only a couple of seconds, okay? I have no make sure none of us are visible." He rolled onto his chest and inched towards the bushes. A thought bothered me. Why can't we hear the men? Shouldn't they be searching for us? Out of the blue, shooting had started in random directions. I tried flattening to the ground even though I could not be any flatter. Mike's hand attached to my ankle in fright. Hundreds of bullets sped through us.

"Mike!" I motioned to him. He lifted up his hand from the back of his neck.

"Let go of me for five seconds." I raised my voice in the sounds of gunfire.

"But-" He tried.

"Just trust me." I demanded. He shook his head, but obeyed. The men did not stop shooting and a sense told me it would just get worse like Mike had said. I took a deep breath and paid attention only to the deafening sound of shots being fired. Another sickening scream tumbled out of my throat. A deeper groan followed and Mike's hand found its way to my ankle. Did he get shot too? Or did he catch on to my plan of playing dead? Five bullets lodged themselves in my heart, stomach, throat, leg, and arm. Blood spurted from my mouth, and I coughed and coughed.

"S….." I attempted to tap him on the shoulder. Mike stayed down, but half opened his eyes. The wounds closed everywhere, except the wound on my throat took the longest. Bullets plopped to the ground. I scooped them up and lay on top of them.

"Stay down and play dead." I cleared my throat to barely whisper. There was no time to waste. As soon as the firing started, it had stopped. The crunching of boots on the dead grass forced me to twitch in the oddest manner.

"God please let my plan work!" I prayed to myself. One large man's silhouette shadowed over me. He kicked me in the side and rolled me over to see my eyes. I went limp and allowed my weight to plant my face into the mud. A sharp blade shoved itself into my back. Pain rippled straight into my spine, but I was determined not to reveal my life to this man. My breath escaped me, leaving me more pain than one could imagine. The dog tag of the man hit my ear: he is going to Mike. Oh no! The breath had refilled my damaged lungs, yet I still could not breathe. The sound of a sharp blade squishing in and out of flesh disrupted the short peace. No more, no less.

"Traitor." The man growled and spat. My mind could not take this anymore. With my eyes closed, my mind spun around not willing to stop. My head pounded with every minuscule bug landing on my healed body. My hand reached for Mike, but went limp, splashing the mud. I blacked out, Mike by my side, alone in the blood stained soil.

"Mike…" I coughed, blinking away the mugginess. Nothing stirred.

"Mike?" I spoke up. I picked myself up, the sod sticking to my arms and hands. Sniffing, I get to my knees. Mike was spread out on the ground, his chest barley moving. His face blank and his eyes closed.

"Wake up Mike! Come on." I whimpered, twisting to him.

"M…" He croaked. I placed my hand on the hole in his abdomen that is pouring his soul out of his body. Tears flowed out from my hurt eyes like wax onto Mike's plump lips. Where was the sword wound? My eyes followed the new traces of blood to his leg. There is only one way for me to save him. But where am I to find out about these panels?

"Listen to me. You are going to be okay and you will complete what you have sough to do." My voice became stern. I have no way of knowing if he could hear me, or if I had already lost him. My mind is not in the right place and it will never be until I see my dad. I scrambled to get my sweater off, jamming the zipper more than once. I stuffed Mike's arms through the sleeves. Goosebumps formed on my arms, nervousness blurring my vision.

"Renee!" Alex yelled.

"Alex?" I called back aloud.

"Over here!" Alex exclaimed.

"What?" I turned around. A tall, well-built guy stood behind me, out in the open of the brittle compound. I could feel my tear soaked cheeks blushing in the sight of this lifesaver. I stood in stance, my shivering breaths puffing out in the pre winter atmosphere. Silence snatched our voices away.

"Mike… He…" I stuttered though my tears. Alex's jacket crumpled as he bent down, taking a look at the half dead body.

"Do you think—" The question took only a light breath. He peered into my eyes.

"I don't know any of it. There are only two ways to find out if you can transfer your powers temporarily by the panels. First is your father, but you know that is out of the question right now. The second is going to the small part of the medium building, the part with the most powerful mutants, contains the information we need." He walked over to me.

"What do you mean?" I rubbed my arms, furious.

"H-he is being interrogated right now." He wiped his mouth.

"How?" I yelled.

"Sh! Calm down! I am trying my best to make the interrogation have the least amount of pain for your father." He covered my mouth.

"Mmmm!" I mumbled through his hands, slamming my fists to my side, throwing a tiny fit.

"I need you to be quiet or this will not work. Do you have a convincing accent?" He let go.

"Do you know what happens when you freeze glass then heat it up?" I said in an Irish accent.

"That is great! Now we need to change what you are wearing… Make your jeans a pair of shorts. Here." Alex gave me a dagger. Heavy and warm to the touch, I sliced the fabric to my knees and yanked the rest of the scraps of jeans off of the edge. I tossed them to the bushes.

"Okay. Your shirt is different because we only saw you with the sweater on... Your hair! Go… Go put mud in your hair." He gestured.

"Why?" I was afraid to ask.

"I am just going off of each idea, but you could be part animal for your ability. And now that I think about it, the panel is going to turn off your ability, so they won't know your real ability." He explained.

"Okay, but wouldn't the panel turn me back to normal if I was part animal." I took the wet soil and smeared it on my curly blonde hair, making the curls straighten.

"No, it is more complicated than that. You need a background story and a reason to come here. The panels will not be changed to let you have your abilities until they think you are telling the truth." He stuck his neck out to make sure we were not watched.

"Give me a sec… So my name is Helen Walsh. I am from Ireland, but my parents abandoned me and I went with my grandfather to America. He brought me here, but was killed by humans for being a mutant. You recruited me, noticing me on your watches in the evening." I looked at my watch. Seven in the evening.

"That will work." He led me to a medium building.

"How is this going to work, you can still tell this is me. I am never going to save them" I moped. Alex halted and took my hand. He reached into his back pocket, and a fist appeared. He placed his fist onto my palm, letting a small metallic object fall into my hand. I clasped my hands closed, and then opened them back up. A black stretchy string looped around a small, plain silver ring.

"What is this?" I looked up to him.

"This ring belonged to my grandfather when he was very young. He is still alive today, but he wanted me to have it. He never told my why, but I wear it anyway. It is like a good luck charm. Anyway, I can distort what you look like in the guard's eyes. I just need the cosmetic basics of your changed appearance first." He smiled. I grinned back and tied the necklace close to my throat. Another thing was gnawing at my memory.

"Hold on. What do we do about Mike in the mean time? We can't just leave him here." I panicked.

"I'll take care of him." A gentle, familiar voice breathed. I jumped around to see Serenity sitting on the ground holding Mike. I let out a puff of air, but stayed where I was.

"But… You … Then…" I stammered. I was so surprised, so happy; no words could come out of my mouth.

"Don't worry. It is a very long story; I will explain it when we are finished here. Now go." She spoke. I trusted Mike with her and left with Alex.

The walk didn't last long at a brisk pace. Alex silently reminded me to be quiet until I am spoken to. We approached a fairly clean building that had a sense of brutality about it. A girl about my age stood guard, her eyes tracing me, head to toe. A smug look appeared on her face.

"Aren't you cold?" She smirked. Actually, I was very cold when I thought about it. Shivers ran through my body, numbing my fingers and toes.

"No." I lied, keeping an equal expression.

"I need to talk to Spud." Alex stepped in front of me.

"What? No hello?" The girl put her hand on his shoulder. Alex flicked her hand off in a flash, clearing his throat.

"Of course no hello. There is no time for what is happening tomorrow." He coughed.

"Fine. Here you go your majesty." She mocked him, bowing before him. The girl parted her hands and the metal crunched open instead of opening the door.

"Thank you." He grabbed my hand and led me to a warm scented place inside. The "door" shut, but a spike cut my arm.

"Crap!" I mumbled under my breath.

"Sh!" Alex shushed me. I nodded even though I wanted to do other wise. A hallway revealed itself and opened into a large room filled with the smell of meat and cheese.

"Alex, my brother!" A chubby man sat on his throne. His face looked an awful lot like Alex's and he was clothed with a dark blue coat. His fatty arms swayed welcoming his brother home.

"Brother!" Alex slumped over to Spud and shook is hand. Brother?

"Who is the beautiful young lady?" Spud peeked over Alex's shoulder.

"That is—" Alex was cut off by the hand motion of his brother.

"She can speak for herself." He smiled. How can this man be torturing my father?

"My name is Helen Walsh." I put the angry thought aside, remembering that I am supposed to be Irish.

"Come here dear and tell me your story." Spud bellowed. I gingerly stepped towards the large man, shrinking away when he took my hand and kissed it.

"I am from Ireland where my parents abandoned me because I am a mutant, just like many other stories you have heard. My grandfather brought me here to America, but he was killed for being a mutant. Alex found me in one of his evening watched and told me you could help me." I gulped. The beady eyes of the man gazed at me with such pity. I stood up straighter, breathing deeper and tried to think of a song.

"Poor thing. My name is Spud. I am not a mutant, but soon I shall be the most powerful mutant. You see, we, the mutants, will rise up and fight, destroying cities and lives, taking over the world. Essentially." Spud tried getting up, hugging me. What a sick man. Alex tapped his fingers against the chair, nervous sweat falling from his head. I felt my stomach churning, food coming up my throat.

"How are you going to do this?" I asked, still keeping the accent.

"That is another story. Let us go on. What is your ability?" Spud walked me to a table. Other mutants just observed, smiling a creepy grin.

"I am a toad, but I jump very high and can walk on water." I cleared my throat. The "king" gestured to me to sit down, snapping his fingers.

"Get me some food for the lady… Helen, would you mind doing a series of tests for me?" His hot breath shook my plastered hair. Steaming hot meat and potatoes floated to my side and set itself down with ease. My hand shook, taking a bite. Water formed in my mouth and the rough texture rubbed my tongue. My stomach accepted this meal with hunger. Gratitude must have shown on my face with a smile.

"Good! The fist test is how loyal you will be with me and if you really do trust me. The first part of the test is bathing in ice water for four hours. You will have to trust me that you will not die. The second part is killing a prisoner for me." His laughter echoed in my mind.

"When do we start?" I patted my hair.

"Right now." Mischief sparkled in his eyes.

"Alex, escort her to the ice tub, and if she tries to get out of the tub, kill her." Spud continued.

Alex wrapped me in a blanket and put his arms around my shoulder the whole time. My heart seemed to have leaped out of my chest. I can't kill an innocent person!


	10. Chapter 10

"Helen. Please don't worry. You are going to be fine." Alex reassured me.

"How? Killing someone?" I retorted, not concerned with freezing.

"I will find a loop hole." Alex turned into a small room. The room was brightly lit and kept surprisingly warm with incense still in the air. There were thick black curtains in the far left of the room and a frosted bathtub in the middle.

"You can't fix everything though." I shivered.

"I can try… Here is a bathing suit. Change behind the curtains please." Alex's face softened. A pink polka dotted bikini shoved itself into my hand.

"This is going to be a long night." I sighed. I turned around and shuffled, my moral low, to change into almost nothing. Alex took hold of my shoulder and reeled me into his arms, closing the door behind us.

"I know this will be hard. If you get caught, there is always a way out." Alex held me. I let the warmth of his heart sink into me, warming up my cold, vengeful heart. I lifted my head up to look at his forgiving smile. He lowered his head admire my eyes. Before I could process what was happening, Alex kissed me. My cheeks became red and hot. My eyes widened in surprise and I tensed up. But after I got over my astonishment, I relaxed and breathed in a sigh of relief.

"Sorry." Alex apologized.

"I would have done the same." I giggled just a bit.

"Well you should really be getting into the tub." He scratched the back of his neck, turning his back to the curtains. Nodding, I ran to the back of the curtains and changed out of my clothes to slip into the bathing suit. I cracked my knuckles, stepping out from behind the wall of cloth. Alex's tall body hadn't turned around. I inhaled a deep breath and tapped my toe on the water. I leaped backwards, falling on my elbow. I ignored my bruise and rubbed my arms. Goosebumps attacked my arm; the ice shocked me into doubts.

"You okay?" Alex asked, still facing the door.

"Yeah, the water is very cold." I got up.

"It should be, the water is a little below ten degrees." Alex explained. I shut my eyes and jumped into the tub, gasping in shallow breaths. I shook violently once again, the cold coating my lungs and veins.

"A-a-alex." I quivered.

"You can get through this." Alex turned around.

"I –I c-c-can't f-f-f-fe-eel my…my…" I stopped abruptly.

"Breath into your hands." Alex tried to comfort me. And I did so, however I was so cold that my breaths became cold. How can anybody survive hours of this?

"D-d-did you h-h-ahave t-to do th-this?" I coughed.

"No." Alex admitted. I could talk no more.

"Remember when Spud said 'brother'? He was not kidding; he is my older brother. My parents think that I am with him, traveling. That is how I got into this mess. Spud convinced me that what he was doing is right." Alex entered my thoughts.

"Oh." I thought clearly. Four minutes passed by and I stopped shaking, still just as cold as I was when I first started. My toes lost their color as well as my fingers. This is horrible. The blood mushed in my body, my heart beat slowing down.

"Helen." Alex rushed towards me.

"Mommy? I thought you died years ago." I slurred my words together. I whirled my head around, my vision lagging behind.

"You aren't mom. Imposter!" I squinted, dazed.

"How?" Alex hooked his arms under my armpits.

"My body's normal temperature is low. That is why I always wear long sleeves or sweaters." I hiccupped.

"Hello? Yes we need to get Helen out right now!" Alex yelled into a hand held radio. Alex huffed while he dragged me from out of the bathtub. My hands started to tingle and shake. He let me down very gently, holding my head up and ripping his jacket off to blanket me. The feeling came back to my fingers and toes sluggishly. Alex clamped his hands around my waist once more to drag me behind the curtains.

"Okay, I am going to change you out of your bathing suit." Alex wheezed.

"N-n-no I c-can d-do…" I was cut off by Alex.

"Fine, I will give you some privacy." He stepped behind the curtain. Shaking, I bring my hand to my back to un-do the knot on the suit, missing the string. Finally, I was able to get the top off. I threw my hand to my shirt, undergarments and shorts. Hazily, I thrust my head through the shirt. My shaking was still throwing me all over the place uncontrollably.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked from behind the curtain.

"M-m-mhm." My voice wavered. Taking off the bottom of the suit was the easiest, but putting my underwear and shorts on were hard. The material stuck to my skin causing me to have to kick through the shorts. My muscles were very weak, yet I overcame the fragility of my state.

"Can I see you now?" Alex wished.

"Y-yes." I granted him. He peeked cautiously around the curtains just to make sure before stepping over to see me. He held his hand out for me to get a hold of. For this, I was grateful to hold his hand. I heaved myself forwards into a coat.

"How do people survive this?" My breath became normal.

"You only have to be in it for ten minutes. If you really trusted Spud would take care of you, then you would not come out of the water even though you know you are supposed to stay for many hours." Alex helped me to the door.

"Oh…" I swallowed.

"Why didn't you say you have a low body temperature to start out with?" Alex scolded me.

` "I don't usually tell people that." I put it.

"You should start then." Alex winked. My muscles had regained their strength, no longer shivering. Alex started talking about something, but I paid no attention. Something still didn't feel right about me. Every once and a while I would catch what he was saying, then I would respond a "mhm" or "oh." My stomach felt like I had ate ice cubes without chewing. My breath, too, was still very cold and icy. Gagging, I covered my mouth. Alex seemed not to notice, or chose not to. At that moment, I knew that he knew that I still was not feeling well. No aroma of incense filled my nose; neither did the smell of the cologne of Alex. My nose started dripping snot, which never really bothered me until now. I put my index finger to my nose and sniffed loudly. Alex stopped talking and rummaged through his pockets to give me a tissue.

"You can come out now!" A high-pitched voice slammed the door open. A woman, maybe thirty years old, sauntered in with red hair. Alex whipped his head around.

"What took you so long?" Alex exclaimed.

"Spud didn't tell me until now." She defended herself. Immediately, the woman came to me and pressed her finger on my neck.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I looked at her. Heated shocks rippled through my body, curing all of my symptoms.

"Just that. I am Maddie." She smiled.

"Thanks, I am Helen." I switched to my Irish accent.

"Nice to meet you, let us get some hot chocolate in you." Maddie urged.

Now I sit down next to the other candidates for the guards/ soldiers for the compound next to Spuds throne. Matilda, Alex and many other guards are chatting about who-knows-what. The other candidates looked blood thirsty and angry. One person, a girl named Francine, started talking to me, thinking of me as an interesting mutant.

"I heard about what happened to you in the first test." She pulled out a cigarette.

"Yeah. I get cold faster I guess… How old are you?" I twitched.

"Twenty-four." Francine lit the cigarette and put it to her mouth.

"Oh okay. I am seventeen. Eighteen tomorrow actually." I sighed.

"Sweet. I am only here because I have nowhere else to go. I can't control my power when I am angry. I have sonic screaming. Gets me into trouble. Stupid humans! Their insolence and arrogance, it is infuriating! My boyfriend knew that I am a mutant, so he breaks up with me. The other guy that I was cheating on him with broke up with me too because of that. But mutant guys are so much nicer and friendlier. I see that you have warmed up to that guy over there. Alex, right? Anyway, you guys look cute together." Francine babbled on and on.

"Francine come and complete the rest of your first test!" Spud called her. She waved goodbye. I sipped the hot chocolate and thought to myself. A lot of these people don't use their common sense. How irritating! Of course her boyfriends dumped her, she was cheating on them. Which leads me to wonder why the other people are here. Maybe there were death threats involved by Spud. I took a glance at Alex. His face expressed sadness and hatred for these mutants. Veins popped out of his neck almost unnoticeably. Poor Alex, forced here to be with his brother. I would have never been able to survive, but Mike would have. Mike! Is Mike still alive? I shouldn't have screamed; I should have just flicked the body away.

"Helen, what is wrong?" A cat looking boy looked at me.

"How do you know my name?" I settled down in my seat.

"The bathtub test." He purred.

"Is that really a big deal?" I asked.

"Very. No one in the history of this compound has ever almost died because of that." He replied.

"Well then. Okay… What is your name?" I continued the conversation.

"Jimmy. I am nine years old." He squeaked. Aw, poor thing!

"Nice to meet you. Why are you here Jimmy?" I had to question him.

"My parents are guards here so I joined too. It took me forever to persuade them to let me at such a young age." He licked his bloody claws.

"Renee! You—" A familiar voice hit me. A chubby girl about my age shoved her way to me.

"June? You aren't a mutant, and didn't I kill you by accident?" I cocked my head.

"I am not a mutant you freak!" She yelled. Everybody stopped talking and stared at me.

"No this is Helen." Spud grunted.

"No no no. This is Renee who hurt my boyfriend. You are going to die Renee!" June tried to choke me, but Alex stopped her.

"Renee is dead." Spud's right hand man stepped forward.

"No, see?" June took a glass of water and dumped it on my head, washing away the mud from my hair. Spud gasped.

"So? A lot of people have curly blonde hair. How did you get in here when you are not a mutant" Alex argued.

"You liar!" Spud came nearer to June.

"Stop. Don't hurt her. This is between me and her." I objected. That is when my cover was blown.

"So you are Renee!" Spud looked hurt. I stood up and stomped my foot, signaling Alex to let my guard down. Spud took one step forward and slipped. His nose flared and jumped to me, despite his weight. A small panel sizzled and sparks flew into the air. A smirk formed on my face and Alex gave me thumbs up. Waves of mutants started towards us with pure hatred and mixed emotions. I backed up to Alex, who was with Maddie. I tensed my hands up ready to battle her.

"Renee, I am with you guys." Maddie informed me.

"Over here you guys. Block the entrance." Alex sprinted down a hallway. Maddie followed, but I stayed back, pushing Maddie forward with the power of air.

"You are going to die if you stay behind!" She fought me.

"No I am not!" I talked back. I stopped in the middle of the hallway, seeing in horror the people out to get me. At least fifty people were charging at me. Some with fire, ice, water, some like animals, some shape shifters and many more. Shards of ice came towards me, stopping abruptly at the barrier of wind. I thought to myself that there was a sure fire way to stop these people temporarily. I let my hands form into fists and turn my head away. Massive amounts of air entered my lungs, giving me a headache.

"Renee we need you!" Maddie yelled.

"NYA I am coming." Tears flowed out of my eyes. Snot dripped out of my nose, agitating my skin. I opened one eye, and everyone was lying on the floor, yet they were not dead. I let go, breathing hard and coughing up blood. I stumbled running to Alex and Maddie.

"What happened to you?" Maddie walked over to me.

"Nothing, nothing. I think I just over exerted myself." I coughed.

"Is your nose bleeding?" She took a silver hankie from her purse.

"I am fine. Just fine. Alex what are you doing?" I blinked. Alex's face reflected the lights from the computer in front of him.

"Come here." Alex ordered. Inhaling a deep breath, I slumped over to him, still recovering from the inner wounds.

"I am going to print this page and then print the map to this place. Your dad must be important because his cell is marked on the map." Alex pressed a button on the machine next to us. Lights flashed off of this monstrosity of a machine.

"What is this?" I took a closer look.

"A printer." Maddie said plainly. Two pieces of paper were zapped out into my face. I squeaked a tiny bit, ducking. In an instant, I brought the papers to myself. I rubbed my eyes to look at the paper, which said:

**INVENTOR: Theodore Thomas**

**DATE OF CREATION: October 9, 1998**

**INSTRUCTIONS: The knobs on the right are for those who have goodness in their heart. On the left are for those who have evil in their heart. If the left knob is turned on, then those with evil in their hearts will no longer be able to use their abilities, and visa versa. This panel absorbs their powers harmlessly. The higher the frequency, the higher the absorption. To absorb the powers of a certain person, that person must place their hand on the panel and go through four shocks. Each greater than the shock before them. To let one person of the group of people whose abilities are absorbed be able to use their ability, that person MUST be scanned by the panel. **

**TO DISARM: Break it or stop the flow of the electric current running through it if the knobs do not work. If the knobs work, turn them in the off position. **

**TO TRANSFER THE POWERS ABSORBED TO ONE PERSON: Open the back of the panel. Switch the wires. Red with white, blue with black, purple with yellow. DO NOT CUT THE WIRES! Put your hand on the panel until you have experienced four shocks, then place panel on person's chest and turn both frequencies on.**

**AUTOR OF THIS DOCUMENT: Theodore Thomas**

"My dad is the inventor of this panel." I said in awe.

"We have to go." Maddie hissed. I gulped and looked around. There was no way out and the mutants are waking up. Frantic, I scooped up two brand new panels just in case.

"How are we going to get out of here?" She asked Alex. He scratched his head and looked to the map for the answer.

"Okay, look. The room we are in is the outer room. It is surrounded by traps in the rooms next to us, but if we can break down this wall that leads outside we are safe." Alex laid the map on the floor.

"Maddie, can you melt the metal?" I spoke up.

"Yes, but do you think it will work?" She doubted.

"We have no choice." Alex intervened. The red headed woman slid to the outer wall and slammed her hand on the cold surface. Metal bubbled and dripped like a lit candle down to the floor. Just enough space opened up for all of us to go through.

"We need to cool the metal or it will keep dripping." Maddie hollered. Alex snapped his fingers and I blasted the opening.

"Go go go !" Alex shooed us.

As we got outside into the darkenss, I ran the fastest to Mike, praying that I am not to late. Blurred grass passed by me, revealing Serenity still holding Mike. Once I got there, the sight of Mike terrified me. Serenity stopped the bleeding on his leg by tying part of her sweater tight on his thigh. His brown eyes half opened themselves, but his eyes were rolled to the back of his head. Only the white of his eyes showed. His skin had become a ghostly white, the cuts more noticeable and scarlet. Tiny cuts branched off of the main scrape. Serenity's black hair became grey with dust and her clothing was torn. No longer did her eyes dance.

"Renee!" Serenity announced. Her brown eyes perked up, but she stayed still in fear of hurting Mike. I halted and slumped down beside Mike, blood still trickling form my nose. I dipped my hand into my back pocket and jerked the instructions for the panels out into the open. I set one of the panels down. Flipping it over, I clasped my hands on a twig to use as leverage to pop open the back.

"Okay… Red with white… Blue with black… And purple with yellow." I instructed to myself. At last I clicked them into place and flipped it over again. Afraid of putting my hand into the wrong place, I moved my hand back and forth to determine where to put it. Alex and Maddie caught up to me, panting.

"Just put your hand down." Serenity pressed. Murmuring words of encouragement, I slapped my hand down. The first shock was not that bad. The second shock was still hardly felt, but the shock following that jolted my arm. Trying to keep my hand from moving, I pushed my hand down harder. Number four swept through me like bolt of lighting. I could utter no word, not even a sound.

"Are you okay?" Alex sputtered. All of the people surrounding me (except for Mike) were fixed on me.

"That woke me up." I answered him. Before I was able to get to the panel, Serenity acquired the panel and placed it on Mike's chest. Moments passed by, no one dared to breath. A sudden intake of air shattered the silence. Mike's chest rapidly started to move. Color flushed his face, covering up all of his cuts, bruises, scars, and bullet holes.

"We did it you guys!" I laughed. Everyone else crept up to Mike to see how he was doing. What did I do? I toppled over onto the grass to recover from my pain. The darkness still hovered over us for it was now the night that is befriending our journey.


	11. Chapter 11

Mike had fully recovered in a matter of minutes and snapped both panels in two just in case. Most of the guards started to track us just as he recovered. All five of us trekked on back into the forest. Once we had found a nice place to make camp, I started to contemplate on what I am going to do. I had acted the whole time during our hike. The dead grass in the middle of the forest made a comfortable makeshift seat around the campfire. I had not recovered from the harsh blow I had brought onto myself back in the compound. I didn't even have the slightest thought that taking in to much air like that could shred you into pieces. Sure, I did recover from the big gashes inside and outside of me, but I stopped recovering at the rapid pace like I currently was. My ribs still feel like they are still in pieces along with my arm and leg. To avoid questions during the time we staggered to find a place to sleep, I plugged one of my ears with my Ipod, hoping that they would just think I am in deep thought and need something to keep my mind going. Once we came here I could hardly sit down.

"Hey um…" I stared at the fire Maddie had made. But my mind is so out of sorts that I gave up what I was going to say and I started to think about the new addition to our little rescue group: Maddie, of which I was skeptical about trusting. She is cool. I thought of her more as a mother though, but then realized she is more of a big sister. What I thought was the best thing about her was her ability to create heat, but not fire and she can control how hot she can make something. That way she could start a fire without accidentally hurting us. The fire illuminated the dense forest and our relieved faces from the bitter cold. The refreshed Mike is talking to Alex, and Serenity is chatting with Maddie, but I kept my mouth shut, still pondering.

"Serenity, can you get another log for the fire?" Alex asked her. She nodded her small head and stood there, apparently imagining going back and forth very fast. When her brain realized she was still there and everyone was looking at her, including me, she shook her head.

"What?" Serenity uttered in astonishment. Alex, too, was stunned not only with her, but with himself.

"Renee, did you hear the joke that I just told you?" He eyed me. Yawning, I shook my head wrapping my sweater that I retrieved back from Mike around me tighter.

"Nope, you didn't say anything out loud." I hugged my knees.

"I didn't say it out loud, I thought it to you."

"Well it obviously didn't get through my head."

"Renee, are you okay? Your cuts are not healed, shouldn't they be okay by now?" Mike interrupted. My face flushed.

"Ummmm… I have had some weird stuff happening to me too." I mumbled.

"Did you see that man Serenity?" Alex pestered her.

"No."

"Am I losing my ability?"

"No Alex you are not." Maddie giggled. All of us gave her questioning looks.

"You guys need to hear this then. Every single mutant gets this ONLY once in his or her life. The mutated gene that allows you to have your powers or whatever you want to call has a normal gene that is attached to it. The mutated gene is SLIGHTLY more dominant that the normal gene, so there is going to be a period of time (minutes, hours, or days) where both genes are fighting for dominance. That makes your ability, or one of your abilities, to spazz out. Sometimes it is there, sometimes it is not. Kinda like a short in a circuit. The weird part is that it lasts up to six days max. No more. No one knows why though. Now let me warn you. Alex, your short is going to probably last up to two hours. Mental abilities are the strongest of all mutations. As for Renee and Serenity, yours will last for a couple of days. The second ability is always the weakest." Maddie finished.

"Wait, super speed is my first ability." Serenity put in.

"Oh. In your case, your mental ability is weaker than the rest of the mental abilities. That happens. Don't worry. Yours will probably last two days tops." Maddie reassured her.

"Does it mean anything if you just found out about your second power less than a day ago and it is shorting out?" I gulped.

"No that just means your second power has always been active, but very weak. That is why your ability to heal is shorting out on you. Yours will last six days. But you guys don't worry; your abilities will never leave you permanently… Before I forget, you guys do know every mutant has a second ability; it is just that most of us, actually ninety-two percent, don't receive that second ability because the second ability is so weak that is just lays dormant your whole life." Maddie smiles. That whole explanation boggled my mind completely.

"How do you know so much?" Mike asked in amazement.

"I used to be a mutant doctor… Specifically for mutants." She ruffled her straight hair.

"That is so awesome! I have always wanted to be a doctor, but I never had the stomach for …." Serenity bobbed up and down, but I fell silent. I don't know what it was, but I became very silent. I could feel my leg and arm feeling better. The healing must be coming back for a short while. How could anyone pass that first test? That is barbaric! It never really occurred to me that someone would kill what they were fighting for. Then I thought that maybe, just maybe, that isn't what they are actually doing. Maybe the prisoners are really just a figment of the imagination, created by someone who had the power of Alex. A cloud of denial cleared my head and I knew that I was stretching it. There is no way Spud would do that. He wants the real thing, not just the imagination. The emotional storm brewing in my heart calmed down. My mind is ready now. Ready for devising a plan that will save those innocent mutants. But I need the map to this God forsaken place. I lean to the left of me and whispered into Mike's ear.

"Hey can you and Alex help me with something?"

"Sure"

"Okay, follow me." I whispered softly.

"Does anyone have a flashlight?" Mike called out from his private conversation.

"I do." Alex and Maggie answered in unison. Alex handed the flashlight to Mike and I got up, my joints popping. Leaves crackled under my feet, and I led the two guys farther away from the camp. The trees and leaves all look the same to me now. I created a little tiny seat of grass to have instead of the hard floor. Alex and Mike gave each other a high five as they sat down. For what? Curiosity pricked at my imagination and for that I had to shake my head. I MUST stay emotionally disconnected for the moment being so I can plan this out.

"Okay, why do you need us?" Alex started.

"We need to plan this out. Where is the map?" I widened my eyes to adjust to the flashlight. Crumpling noises of paper were followed by the image of three pieces of paper. Mike brushed the leaves away from the ground and grabbed a couple of tree branches. The three pieces of paper that made up the map rocked back and forth in the air as the strong hands cradling them freed them from his hold. Rough, brown branches found their places on the edges of the maps.

"I thought it was only one page?" I bit my nails.

"I printed out only one page because I have the rest." Alex winked. Mike clicked the light on and ran the light over it.

"There we are. Annnnnnd that is where your dad is being held." Mike traced.

"So that is the building next to the building we…. Broke into." I realized.

"That is unfortunate. I suppose you know that there are now more guards by your dad now."

"Yeah….." I sighed.

"No problem. Look. There is a pipeline we –" Alex was cut off by Serenity.

"What are you guys doing here without us?" She whined. Maddie filed in right behind her.

"That is a good question…." Mike thought about it.

"Um…. We have no clue why. Would you like to join us with planning?" Alex saved us. Both of the girls bent down on their knees in the dark, not knowing what they were kneeling on.

"As I was saying before, there is a pipeline we can go through. It has not been used in the past thirty years. That will lead us to that building right there. Right there next to the building that is next to the building where your dad is being held." Alex pointed.

"Now when we get to that building, we have to be crawling the whole time. You won't really know why until you are there. Let me just leave it at that. There is a shielded bridge of the roof that leads to your dad's building. Guards will be swarming over there. Renee, I need you to be on the ground to distract the guards so we can take care of them up there. These guards will be the most powerful mutants you will ever see. Once we get pass the guards and the bridge, we need to shut the power off. There are panels everywhere and the locks are locked automatically by a code in another panel. Everyone is going to be free, but there is a catch. Spud told me that Renee's dad holds the information needed to make a new panel. A panel that will kill mutants if the powers are taken away. Spud plans to use that new panel to absorb every ability there is. And since there would be no more mutants left, he is going to then be the biggest and only mutant alive. That is all he told me. So your dad has this schedule. I have that schedule in my head because I escort your dad to the places he has to go to. He is brought to Spud for questioning at two in the afternoon. Before, at six in the morning, he is brought to breakfast by himself. We need to get him before six. That leaves us about nine hours to do this." Alex finished.

"Alex is right on the money with this plan." Maddie commented him.

"Renee, you cannot be caught. Spud is going to use you against your dad." Mike pointed out.

"Yes. Mike is telling the truth. Remember, EVERYONE stays together, except for when Renee has to get to the ground underneath the bridge. In that case, Renee, stay with us until we have reached the bridge, then get to the ground and distract the guards. They will not be affected by your choking them." Maddie ordered me.

"Hey, I think I saw someone. Renee, will you come with me to check it out?" Mike stretched.

"Okay." I copied him. This is the first time that I have talked to him since the incident. Mike helped me up and we shuffled quite away, deeper into the forest than the others would want us to be. This part of the forest is more open and showed me that there is still a moon out tonight. Mike caught me by the shoulder and reeled me in, closer to him.

"Thanks Renee… For going through all of that trouble." He rubbed my banged up shoulder.

"No problem. I didn't go through that much trouble."

"Yes you did. I saw you laying on the ground, smiling when I woke up."

"Maybe a little bit of trouble…"

"Yeah yeah. Whatever you say."

"What exactly happen when the shooting started earlier today? Didn't you let the bullet pass through you?"

"Ah. That was a painful experience. I don't know what really happened there. I guess when I let go of you it freaked me out and I didn't let anything pass through me. Other than that I don't really know."

"You scared me though! I thought you died!"

"I know, but you had your new boyfriend Alex to help you." Mike teased.

"Uhuh."

"So you aren't denying it!"

"Yes, yes. He um…. Kinda kissed me before I did this one test thing where I went into hypothermia, but I am fine now,"

"I know, he told me. He knows that I am protective of you. He didn't want me to find out from someone else."

"So wait… Are you assuming that we are boyfriend girlfriend?"

"Nope."

"Oh… Well." I smiled.

"Hahaha, and I am guessing that you know that there really is no person, I just wanted to talk to you." Mike heartily laughed.

"Thanks Mike." I hugged him.


	12. Chapter 12

My eyes flew open to see the campfire that grew bigger, engulfing the wood. Maddie, Serenity, Mike, and Alex were mumbling about some topic, not noticing that I was asleep in the first place.

"Maddie!" I stiffened. I had tilted more towards the ground and messed up the muscles in my neck. An expecting throb in my head started to pound mercilessly behind my eyes.

"Yes?" Maddie's face beamed. I paused, trying to think through my dream, carefully picking out the most important points of the dream.

"Eh, this might sound weird to you, but did you say that each mutated gene has a normal gene to it, so there is one time that they are fighting for dominance?" I hesitated.

"Yes, why?" Maddie put her fingers to her lips.

"Alex, did we make that plan with the maps?" I tapped him on the shoulder. He shook his head.

"She fell asleep you guys. Can't you see that? Must have nodded off while you were thinking." Serenity laughed. Mike looked at me with a huge smile on his face. Amusement? Or was he glad to see me again?

"What are you guys talking about?" I changed the mood.

"About the weirdest things we have been through. Mine is this one." Mike yawned.

"Hmmm…. I have seen a lot of weird things… I think it would be that bathtub water test thingy." I stretched happily. Alex blushed and Serenity seized the opportunity to tease me yet again.

"Aw. Are you guys dating?" She winked.

"How did she know? Did you tell her about that thing?" I sighed to Alex.

"No… I never even told Mike…" Alex stopped and thought for a moment. "Maddie."

"What? Wasn't much of a secret at the compound." Maddie emphasized with a look in her eyes.

"So what is it? Dating or not?" Mike nudged Alex. Alex and I exchanged glances. His eyes softened and shimmered in the moonlight. I could make out that there is a possibility that he does want us to be dating, so I nodded. Whatever would come out of his mouth I would have to accept,

"Yes. Yes we are." Alex smiled like I had never seen him before.

"Awwwwww." Mike, Serenity, and Maddie squealed in unison. I had to smile. Whether I liked it or not, I had to smile. This is going to be hard to tell Dad. Unless Alex told him what he has been trying to do for a while now. But even then, I think my dad would be a bit skeptical because I am not only his only daughter, I am his only child. He has been seeing everything as a danger to me ever since Mom died. I never really minded that though. The thought that my dad is keeping me safe, well, makes me feel safe. Now that I am dating, he is going to be sending Serenity to spy on us, I am sure. She would do it anyway, so that is expected. Alex being a mutant might just ease Dad's mind. And Alex has a useful mental power. Which, now thinking about it, could make my dad even more paranoid about me because Alex could use that on me. There is no way out of this! I guess I will just have to deal with my dad constantly asking me questions, looking at my email, nagging me, and defiantly grounding me when I am five minutes late to anywhere. Oh boy this should be really fun.

"So… How did you guys meet?" Serenity eyed me playfully. Alex leaned on me and I did like wise, just to over iterate that we are now a couple. Our breathing synchronized and the cold did not matter anymore to my sensitive cuts. Mike answered her with a more dramatic hold on the story.

"It was fate! Renee was hanging on a ledge, half conscious, and he grabbed her hand with such passion that Renee woke up. Oh what a sight! They literally lit up the black night into a bright sunny day. Alex gave her his good luck charm and said 'I shall come back for you, my dear, for my love burns a thousand suns for you!' They kissed and then Renee would not let go of his hand for her love would not permit her so. She knew she must let go to see her 'Romeo' again –" Mike's hands molded a mental picture for us all. Alex muttered something under his breath, chuckling at the dramatic situation. His storytelling cleared the murky atmosphere and Serenity joined in.

"Then a tragic scene followed the true lover's tale. Mike had fallen, in his duty to save Renee and me. The grief stricken girl would not believe her past love is dead and raced to find a way to save his handsome face. Alex stopped her, ' Love, it is too dangerous for us to be seen as you and me. You must be in a disguise.' –" Serenity stood and stressed each word of her story. Mike joined her in a dance depicting the tale of Alex and me. Maddie dropped her head down to her knees and burst out laughing. My face heated up, my laughter sprinkled with tears from not being able to breath.

"Off they went together in the sneaky adventure. Renee had to pass a test of her durability, almost dieing. But if it was not for the knight in shining armor, she would be a popsicle, eaten by the man-eating dogs—" Mike let Serenity have her fun next. At this point, Mike was picking Serenity up with her limp and lifeless.

"In the end, they get married in a small chapel the next day with the approval of her father, the king! Mike and Serenity get mansions and Alex and Serenity live a full life of true love." Serenity ended with her and Mike holding hands, bowing at the applause. Alex held me closer with the happiness overflowing in his soul.

"You guys should make a show or something." Alex high-fives Mike as he sat back down.

"Hahaha, this would be a great story to tell our teacher when we get back, eh Mike?" I coughed, recovering from good-hearted laughter.

"I don't think she would believe us." He yawned again. I leaned backwards, resting my hand on a cup of water, longing for a sip of water. The refreshing taste of the clean water washed thoroughly, swishing around my teeth and into my throat. I couldn't stop drinking the water, it is so… So tempting, unlike any water I had tasted before. Wait, what am I doing? We never had any water at all. No food, no water, nothing.

"You guys…" I burped. A sharp pain sliced through my thoughts and I was unconscious. There was no time to feel the poison take affect on me before I was out like a light.

My lungs struggled for air to flow in and out of my body. Hyperventilating, my eyes open once more, but to a blinding light and a weight on my chest. Gasping between coughs, another pounding throb in my head stuck every nerve in my brain. I close my eyes to block the white light from penetrating my painful thoughts. Each shallow breath is a twinge of pain.

"OW!" I screamed. A needle injected itself into my neck. I could feel the solution force itself into my bloodstream.

"Stop hurting her!" A familiar voice scolded whoever gave me this injection.

"Oh shut up!" A voice hissed. Oh no! Not him!

"We will leave her alone for this to work." A softer, mocking voice reassured the man that defended me. My nose itched and burned, my hand wrestling for freedom to scratch my nose.

"Renee, sweetie?" My dad sniffed. Right there. Right at that moment, my eyes peeled open, ignored the painfully bright light burning into my skin, searching for my dad's malnourished face.

"Dad?" My voice cracked. My dad's face, right across from me, darkened by mud and dust, bruised from the beating he has endured, and the relief for seeing that his daughter is alive.

"Why did you come to get me? Not that I am not happy to see you, but I didn't want to see you get hurt."

"But they got to the house… They tried to get me. Either way I was going to get hurt… And you are the only family that I have, dad. If I lost you, what would I do?"

"… Do you have a plan?"

"Nope. Why did they drug me? Freaking could have hit me in the head or something." I winced. The pain from the sedatives continued to burn my head, the heat increasing every minute.

"I don't know. Maybe they know that you have a hard head."

"Very funny. "

"Ren, you must be wondering why I am here."

"Very much so, yes. Why did you create the panels?"

"Your mother became paranoid with the news of bad mutants killing non-mutants and mutants who had different beliefs when you were a baby. I had to balance the bad with the good on that thing. Took me years to figure out how to absorb the powers without killing the mutant."

"Is there anyway that you can be stronger than the panel?

"If I knew, there would be no problem right now." Dad cleared his throat. The light had lessened in my eyes and I was able to make out the objects next to me. The icy surface I lay on is really just wood. Just like the one that I was tied to when that shape shifter caught me, deceiving me. Various torture devices glued themselves to a shelf. Blood crusted on the edges, they are all the same: sharp, big, and contorted pieces of metal twisted around them. There is nothing I can throw up. Maybe the sedatives, but that would make me feel worse than I already feel. Just looking at these stung my mind with images of the victims. A memory formed in my brain. Not mine, not anyone's that I knew, but someone else's. Someone still alive, scarred and broken.

_ "Where is Theodore Thomas?" Something growled._

_ "I don't now! I admit, I know him, but that is all. I haven't seen him in years!" A high-pitched voice seemed to have told the truth._

_ "How do you know him?"_

_ "I was the teacher of his daughter when she was in elementary school… She should be graduating by now." A woman revealed her face to me. Mrs. Smith?_

_ "Where is he? You should know where he lives." The all to familiar serpent picked up a knife and held it against her arm. My teacher's breath turned from full breaths into rigid gasping. She doesn't know! She wouldn't know! She only knows my dad from teacher conferences. STOP!_

_ "I am telling the truth. I. Don't. Know." Mrs. Smith cried. The knife sliced her arm, but she just kept her mouth shut, keeping the pain inside her. Someone was next to her… Two people, actually._

_ "If nothing is working on her, then we go to her son." The same petite woman sniffed. J…Jimmy? Is that how…. _

_ "No!... No." Mrs. Smith pleaded with all her heart. A silver pistol found its way the to head of her son, scared and shaking. Two clicks pierced the air._

_ "Tell me where he is." The serpent hissed._

_ "Okay…He lives in Georgia now. Job change." Her voice wavered. She was lying through her teeth, She has no clue where the heck my dad is… er was. True, there was a job change, but he declined moving. A shot filled the air and the shaking stopped. Jimmy's young life snatched away from him just like the others._

_ "NO!" Mrs. Smith screeched. "No Jimmy! Why did you kill him you worthless…"_

_The snake like person stuck her head, knocking her out. The memory faded away, but the voice still remained in my head._

_ "Don't let this happen to either of you. Even if your dad does give them what they want, they are going to kill one or both of you." Mrs. Smith informed me._

"D…Dad…" I gagged.

"Yes?"

"Did they use these on you?" I whispered. He took a long pause before he answered me.

"No."

"Tell me the truth dad. I am not a kid anymore… Not after this." I raised my voice.

"They did not use anything on me. They used mental torture. Okay?" I hardly heard my dad speak. Why are they doing this to him?

"Listen, I hold a secret that no one can ever get out of me, even if they did cut me up." My dad's voice traveled to my ear. I lost it. I couldn't hold it in anymore. I am beyond angry now. My heart became polluted with the tainted blood rushing back and forth in my limbs. Writhing, my wrists scraped against the chains, bloodying the cuffs of my sweater. I caught the bottom of flip flops and dug my heels into the wood.

"Renee, stop! You are going to wear yourself out and they are going to hurt you in more ways than you have already been hurt!" My dad urged, his face blending into a frantic redish color.

"To late!" I retorted. I found that one crack that would free us once and for all. I felt along the ragged line with my covered elbows. Three seconds and that is all I need. Thumps behind the door distracted my determined thoughts.

"Just say it is the sedatives!" My dad hissed. No, I am not lying again! I whipped my head from Dad to the door.

"Whatever happens Dad, you didn't do anything. Remember…" I sucked in a sharp breath of air. Both elbows went up in the air. Quick and easy, right?

"And that is why…. What are you doing?" The serpent held out a gun.

"No!" My dad pleaded. Ramming my elbows into the crack multiple times, I broke free of the chains, both my hands and feet.

"Got your back." A voice whispered fast into my ear. Serenity! The wood snapped and I propelled myself off of my prison bed. Pain couldn't stop me now. Where is that panel? Two shots were heard and I ducked, covering my neck. I refuse to look back at these… these things! Somersaulting underneath a table, something cracked. Bingo.

"Remember you can't heal yourself…" Another voice whispered in my ears. Alex! I crawled out of my hiding place, empowered.

"No…" The word spilled out of my mouth.


	13. Chapter 13

Power left my hands completely, my fingers going limp. I could hardly breathe out the shallow, icy breaths that filled the cruel air. The only lights that were on disappeared suddenly when my eyes focused. One dark figure lay on the ground, twisted and bloody. Another shape, a rather petite one, became limp before my eyes, now leaning against my father. Spud and three other guards, in addition to the morbid creatures holding my dad captive, circled me in the dark of all their evil. They can't do this is here; it is too small for all of us here. No, I am just being stupid. They can do whatever they want. Light exploded into all of our faces, illuminating the evil deeds these mutants have accomplished. Maddie's red hair mixed in with the crimson blood that drips from the lethal wound atop her light face. Blank, glassed-over eyes stared at me as if they were accusing me of her murder. As for Serenity, her hands twitch every now and again, but there are no gashes on her, not even a scratch. What the heck did they do to her?

"Where are the boys? Hm?" An arrogant voice disturbed the air; my shoulders twitched in surprise letting a shudder run through my spine. None of my words spoke from my frozen shut mouth; I didn't even let out a heavy breath. Everyone, even my dad, stood still in my defiance to answer.

"Aw, come on Renee. We know that my brother and your little friend are in here somewhere ready to save the day." Spud smirked. I took some time to think this through. I honestly don't know where Mike and Alex are, they could be right next to me and I wouldn't even notice them.

"Do you want the truth?" I stalled, my words weak and unsatisfying.

" Of course my dear." Spud placed his hand on my shoulder. Something told me that I had to act this out. There is no way that I can pull this off if I am not convincing with my lie, Alex is obviously in this very room. However, whether he is with Mike or not, I have no clue. Here I go.

"Knowing these two… I would have to say…" I trailed off. My eyes caught my dad's face, full of horror. I knew what he was thinking: I am a traitor. I shook my head ever so slightly.

"Please…." I whispered.

"Okay, kill 'em." Spud raised his stubby fingers.

"No! Mike is in here, somewhere, I don't know. Alex must be out of this room."

"Stop! Search for them. You heard what the girl said." Spud coughed. A sharp blow to my back knocked me to the ground. Instinctively, my hands found their place in front of my face. Spud's foot prevented me from getting up from this putrid ground.

"I know you can still use your powers on me, but I also know that you wouldn't dare jeopardize your father's life. Now would you?" He taunted. Squirming, I scraped my nails hard against the cement, breaking off tiny pieces of my dirty nails.

"Why are you doing this?" I pleaded with him.

"I guess you deserve to hear the real facts." Spud wouldn't budge. Only the mutants holding my dad and Serenity were left from Spud's squad.

"I h-hope so." I tried being sarcastic, but I fought for my breath under his foot made of lead.

"You know Alex, he has a brilliant ability. Our parents thought that he was smarter than me, always compared him to me—" Spud stopped.

"That is what parents do. All you had to do was talk to them." I heaved.

"Shut up! I did. And they stopped if you must know. I love my parents very much. You see, during that time that I was compared to my little brother, it made me more competitive in school. I wanted to be the best at everything and science intrigued me the most out of all subjects. After all, biology helped explain some parts of your mutations. I took that in mind when I went ahead and started to find out about YOU 'people'. I did some harmless experimenting on Alex. I wouldn't do anything to hurt him, until now. Anyway, once I was in college, I came up with this fantastic idea. The idea of being able to turn normal humans into mutants themselves permanently. That way we have a choice to be like you guys or not. Oh what a dream! Soon that dream became only about me becoming that mutant, only me. We don't need you guys. You are just a nuisance to the world. Shortly after my thoughts turned towards me, I began to notice the wrongs and the rights of the world and that I knew all of the rights. I should be the one in charge. With me, everything will be fine." He swallowed.

"And be a tyrannical dictator? Take away all of our freaking freedoms? Killing off all of the mutants? That means killing your brother! And you would be a freaking mutant yourself. THINK!" I spat.

"Didn't I just say I don't care about him?"

"No. You never said that."

"Don't be smart with me!" Spud dug his heel further into my back. I muffled a scream. My heart is to my throat now, beating faster and faster. Dad protested against my harm. The woman struck him down with a hard fist. His exhausted face almost to my level now, showing his concern.

"Mutants! Okay. On with my story. Years passed and I tried every design I could think of to take away and use the powers of a mutant, but nothing worked. Nothing! That was, until I met your father. Who not only knows how to absorb the powers and use them, but also end up killing the mutant that comes in range of that darn thing. And now you know, my dear." Spud scoffed. All of what he said to me makes no sense. All he is, is power hungry. He doesn't care about right or wrong, up or down. Just about himself. Serenity started to wake up as my dad got up form his crippling stance. Her eyes widened in shock and in shame. The grip around her wrist tightened, pinching the soft skin of Serenity.

"When did you guys get here? I thought you were in the torture room. Whatever you call it." Serenity asked hazily. Huh? Dad and I looked around: the room transformed into a room the size of at least two cafeterias, shelves, chairs, pipes, and wires filled the room.

"You guys don't know where you are do you?" Spud smiled. I didn't move and no one spoke.

"Fine, you guys are five miles away from the compound. Mutants like my little brother did this to you guys. From the time any of you guys woke up 'till now, you thought you were in a small room in the compound." Spud explained with pride. What are we going to do now? As much as I believe in Mike and Alex, they can't through this. Too many guards. Just too many guards. I guess this is it. All I've gone through has been a complete waste and people died in vain. Thoughts about the pass I don't know how many days played in my head. Lying to my teacher about taking medication. Fighting with June… I wonder what happened to the students in my class.

"I did that. I made them think that there was a fire drill, but I have to clue to where your teacher was."

"Alex! Where is Mike?" I exclaimed in my head.

"I don't know, I am holding off the guards. Mike said something, but I couldn't hear him." I didn't pay attention to Alex. Well, I guess Alex was outside after all…

Out of nowhere, everyone, Spud, the two other mutants, Serenity, Dad and I were launched into the air. Mike popped up from the impenetrable floor, flipping forward on the ground. Serenity and I were slammed into each other, giving me yet another headache. The woman and the snake like mutant were knocked out onto one of the pipes. As for Spud, he is too big to have been moved too much from the shock.

"What have you done? Do you know what happens now? This place has bombs where you were hiding! You just set them off. It is a matter of time!" Spud shouted at us. I gradually turned my vision to Mike. His triumphant expression turned into fear, the color leaving his face. A blast of fire blew me down on my back, a noise ringing in my ears. Desperation stirred in my head and I thrust my hands forwards. My dad shielded Serenity from the explosion and looked around. In the shield I had put around us created a silent cocoon. Mike hesitantly lifted his hands from the back of his neck.

"What's it going to be Renee?" Spud growled, his leg twisted underneath him. Of course, I can't do anything. If I move, everyone dies. Pipes, bricks and other chunks of the building hovered above us, waiting to crush our beaten up bodies. Serenity peeked over my dad's shoulder, frowning.

"No, Spud. No. Do you want to die or live?" Mike yelled, running to him.

"I would rather die than join you." Spud sniffed.

"Renee?" Mike gestured at me.

"I can't kill him Mike. I can't just let him die." I whimpered.

"Oh. Well I will just kill you then." Spud reached for something. What is it? I squinted to see, but before I could recognize anything, Mike stabbed Spud in the abdomen. Spud instantly fell without a sound. The weight of the debris became unbearable, and my legs crumbled to the ground. I grunted, blood dripping from my nose. I can't let go, but I can't hold on either.

"Go go go!" Mike helped my dad and Serenity up, dragging them down, underground. Soon after, a hand gripped my foot, bringing me outside within moments.

The early morning light welcomed me outside from the partly cloudy sky, warming me up a bit. The aroma of grass tickled my nose, as well as the aroma of the smoke and ashes. Bushes outnumber the trees, providing some shelter from the strong wind and debris falling from the number if explosions. I couldn't resist laughing with Serenity and Mike. I am just so happy. We, as a team, survived this thing. Whatever this was. So far everyone except for my dad and me have major cuts or gashes. Our clothes are torn and most of our clothing is black from all of the dirt and mud we have been in. My heart is light now, allowing me to breathe, the welcome air inflating my lungs.

"Mike! What the heck did you do back there?" Alex sprinted towards us, his stone hard face relaxing.

"Alex, we were going to go back to the compound." My dad hollered to him. Oh yeah, the people at the compound. I started putting one mangled foot in front of the other on my torn flip-flops. Serenity fell in step next to me, explaining what she did when she was nowhere to be found.

When we got to the compound, it was swarming with the police and ambulances. More and more flashing lights bombarded my sight once more. The five of us stood at a distance, observing the kindness of these people.

"I wonder how they knew." I scratched my nose.

Alex crept up behind me. I jumped, turning around. The wind gently patted my face and my white blonde hair wavered. I sighed, there is nothing for me to worry about now. As far as I know, we are all safe. No more targets painted on the back of our heads. No more panels to worry about and no more mind tricks. At least not now. I curled my fingers, feeling the stiffness ebb away into a fluid motion. Mike scrambled his way to my side. Little crusted scratches here and there could be seen on his face. On this otherwise rough canvas, a straight mouth formed. His tight lips relaxed and opened his mouth.

"I wonder what is going to happen at school… I mean, what if everyone heard about what happened? This is the local police… They can't really hide anything." Mike pointed out.

"I guess we can only roll with the punches, but I doubt anyone will find out about us. The kids we saved are not with the police, they are with that woman." I slurred my words together. What a long journey this has been.

"Yeah you guys are fine. I have a trick up my sleeve." Alex winked.

"What about me?" Serenity popped up in front of me.

"You will be a new student. We will change the last name and disregard what people ask you about what happened years ago." Mike answered her.

"Where will I live though? I can't live in that tree thing for much longer." She complained.

"Are you willing to be Mike's neighbor? A friend of mine is moving out in a couple of days. I could pay for the rent." My dad came to complete the circle.

"Where do you get all of this money?" I had to ask.

"You will soon learn what your father does other than his normal job in a more complex way. And that other job is funded by a certain group of people." My dad chuckled. All of us started chatting about what we are going to do once we get back to our "normal" lives. I don't really know what I am going to do, except for one thing in particular. Eat. Looking at myself, the color is drained from my skin and some bones are starting to stick out. All of my cuts are healed and blood is dried all over my shirt, face, and hands. The sickening color made tear drops sneak out of my eyes, slide down my face and fall onto my arms. Quickly, I sneezed to cover up my emotions, the stinging in my nose increasing each moment.

"Let's go home." My dad announced in his firmest voice.

The softness of my green sweater was easy to get used to in this snowy season of winter. Surprisingly no one asked about my torn up backpack and no one really thought anything of the whole episode with June on that fateful day over a month ago. Ms. Wakes, however, stopped bothering me with sleeping in class after the word about the whole mutant thing spread around. The chatter of my noisy classmates fluttered in the air today in my last class of the day. Word has it that we are going to have a snow day tomorrow if the weather keeps up like this. The thought of that made excitement rush in my fingers. I had to push that thought aside, finishing my homework before the bell rang.

"Okay class, have a nice day! Hope to see you tomorrow!" Ms. Wakes hollered after us as the bell rang and everyone rushed to go play in the snow.

"I don't get the big deal of the snow day. Christmas break starts in five days." Serenity caught up to Mike and me in the hallway. Clenching to my backpack, I flinched at how fast she raced to us.

"I think it is fun." Mike retorted.

"I like the snow days though." I admitted.

"Two to one Serenity." Mike laughed. By the time we got outside, our breaths icing over in the thin air, Alex was waiting for us in his car.

"Hey do you want to go skating with us at the pond tonight?" Serenity asked Alex.

"I can't, Renee and I are going to the movies tonight." Alex kissed me on the cheek.

"Pssst. Serenity, why don't we spy on them?" Mike whispered. Serenity giggled, knowing what I would say in this comfortable moving car.

"Crap!" Alex exclaimed. I stopped abruptly and whipped my head around. A car sped towards us not even slowing down. I gasped and Mike put his hand on the car while I did the same, but for a different reason. With my buffer, the car slowed down, but not to a complete stop and tried to ram itself into the car. Instead, the car blasted backwards, stopping traffic.

"Good thinking Mike." Alex praised him. Serenity and I laughed our heads off from being so tense. We were so close to almost being dead again! Would this ever end for us mutants? No it wouldn't. People are afraid of us and I don't blame them: I am afraid of my own kind too. Over half of the mutants that I have met tried to kill not only people, but mutants as well. There will always be a never-ending circle of this. What everyone can do, mutant or not, is not to jump to any conclusions. Not to be quick to react, but to be quick to accept.


End file.
